Tok'ra in Atlantis
by Stargatefanatic123
Summary: One average female Tok'ra in Atlantis –. Hold on. Wait a minute. She's a Tok'ra? In Atlantis? What's going on? What's happening?  Camilla Carter, daughter of Jacob Carter is going to Atlantis. Let's hope the galaxy is ready for her. T for language.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Cam, Kel'an and maybe the little plot twists I've put in here!

At the beginning of every chapter from now on there will now be little pieces written at the beginning showing what happened to Cam in the earlier seasons and these _**might**_ include little pieces about Cam's life in between episodes. At the end of every chapter (I hope) there will be two quotes I believe surmise what the episode is about. Please read and enjoy.

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The lane stretched out before the young girl as she stood on the country lane. On the right side stood a field of green grass and still growing corn quarter of a mile further down. On the left stood a field coloured yellow with cut hay in seven large bales. Two wooden fences stood on either side of the lane, seeming to part the ground before the girl as she stood in the middle of it all, swaying slightly as she looked down the length of it.

The girl's honey-coloured hair fell in front of her face, obscuring her sky blue eyes that took in her surroundings before she took a breath, wincing in pain before she started forwards, her breathing rasping as she moved slowly started forwards. The girl walked slowly down the lane, looking around as she took in the sights of the cows that lay amongst the grass.

The sound of a muffled explosion broke the tranquil silence and the girl turned suddenly, seeing a large dust cloud coming from the corn field next to her. She looked at the horizon, seeing the buildings she was running away from, before she moved to the wooden fence that stood between her and the corn field. She climbed over the fence with a groan before she forced herself to breathe through the obstruction in her throat. She moved through the field, moving the ears of corn out of her way.

She became aware that the ears of corn that had been dense near the fence thinned out dramatically the further into the field she went. She had gone perhaps a few yards when she stepped into an area that was clear of any ears of corn standing. Pieces of ragged metal littered the ground, half covering the pieces of corn that remained. Tubes and crystals were scattered around the small clearing.

She struggled for breath once more before she moved forwards, looking around the abnormally shaped clearing, searching for any people. She stopped when she saw one person lying on the ground; their body lying awkwardly as one leg jutted out, obviously broken as was one arm that lay beneath the person.

"Are… you alright?" she asked the man as she reluctantly came closer to him. "Is there anything I can do? To help?"

The man's eyes, which had been looking up at the sky above them, locked onto her before he coughed, his entire body seeming to have a fit before it stopped. "I am Al'ek," he told her before he smiled when he saw worry flash across her face. "Peace child. There is nothing you can do for me."

The girl recoiled when the man's eyes flashed a golden colour, highlighting his irises for a moment before it dimmed.

"What are you?" the girl asked.

"**I am Kel'an," **the man replied, but his voice was doubled, with a rough sounding voice over it. **"Al'ek is my host. I am one of many symbiotic beings that share a host body to survive."**

"If Al'ek dies, do you?" she asked as she moved closer before she forced a breath into her lungs.

The man nodded slightly. **"That is true," **he told her. **"If I remain within Al'ek I will die unless I can get a new host."**

The girl watched as his eyes flashed again, a bit more dimly before a pained groan escaped from Al'ek's lips. "Please," he gasped. "Take Kel'."

The girl nodded after a moment. "Of course," she said. "I don't have anything to lose." She forced a breath into her body. "How do I…?"

Al'ek gasped for a moment. "Kiss me," he told her.

The girl nodded and knelt down by the man's head. She moved her hair behind her ears before she leaned forwards, following his orders. When her mouth was two inches away from Al'ek's, she felt her tongue being pushed down for a moment before a searing pain erupted in the back of her throat. She fell back, clutching at her throat for a moment before the pain disappeared and her hands fell away. She sat up and looked at Al'ek as he smiled and nodded once.

"**Good bye my good friend," **she heard herself say, but she wasn't saying anything. **"I will find who did this to us both and get revenge." **Al'ek's eyes slid shut and his chest stopped moving.

The girl swallowed as she felt like she wanted to talk and felt the new presence in her mind step to the side, allowing her control. "I'll protect Kel'an," she said, knowing the man was dead now. "I promise."

_**Thank you Camilla, **_the presence in her mind told her. _**Or would you prefer Cam?**_

Cam swallowed convulsively for a moment and breathed, feeling the air moving easily into her lungs like there was no obstruction in the way. _Cam please, _she answered quietly.

_**Cam then, **_the presence replied. _**We have many things to talk about. I am Kel'an, the being you spoke to when Al'ek could not.**_

Cam nodded slowly. _What do we do about Al'ek's body?_

_**We can do nothing, **_Kel'an told her. _**Although his human body is slightly different to yours, I no longer have anything that could destroy his remains. **_Cam felt a sigh emanate from Kel'an. _**It is time for you to see my life, and for me to see yours.**_

Cam nodded reluctantly and watched in awe as reality around her disappeared as thousands, even millions of memories appeared around her, showing her Al'ek's life with his brother, Martouf, and his mother, Saroosh. She also saw all of Kel'an's previous hosts, feeling mourning and pain for them. When Cam eventually opened her eyes after the memories had stopped, the sun was high in the sky. The sun had been just peeking over the horizon when Cam had stepped into the corn field.

_**Now, you need to show me your memories, **_Kel'an calmly stated.

Cam reluctantly shook her head, not wanting to show her memories but before she could say anything they surged up and once more reality disappeared, showing the memories Cam had of her parents; of the abuse, the beatings and starvation. It only took a few minutes for the memories to play.

_**You will NEVER feel that pain again, **_Kel'an told her. _**I promise that!**_ She gently nudged at Cam's mind and the girl willing stepped aside, feeling the sensation of control changing hands. _**It's time to get away from here.**_

Cam nodded slightly, feeling Kel'an give her that much control to convey her wish before Kel'an stood up and moved them both away from the corn field, leaping over the wooden fence and running away from the houses at the one end of the road.

* * *

**THREE DAYS LATER, NEAR SUN SET**

The oak tree overlooked a small garden where an apple tree stood, ripe apples hanging from its branches. The house was a typical American house: white walled with a good, green garden and a white picket fence. Cam sat on a high branch, looking down at the apple tree.

_Can you do anything for the hunger? _she asked Kel'an.

Kel'an took control of Cam's head and shook it slightly. _**Sorry, Cam, **_she replied. _**I have held it off for the last few days. I can only stop it for so long. We're going to have to eat soon or we'll end up like Al'ek.**_

Cam nodded when she had control back. _A couple of apples then, _she said before she swung herself down the tree, going to the lower branches until she reached the ground below.

She looked around the garden from where she stood, searching for a sign of anyone before she ran to the tree, purposefully taking the less ripe ones, feeling Kel'an approve. When she had picked four of the less ripe apples, she turned to go back to the oak where she could leave, only to stop as a man stood in front of her, blocking her way out.

The man had a slightly bald head and Cam could just see what remained of the close-cropped grey hair. He stood taller than her at five feet five inches with both his arms crossed over his chest.

_**Oh dear! **_Kel'an commented.

"What are you doing with those apples?" he asked her as he continued to look at her.

Cam swallowed convulsively against the fear that settled in her stomach. "I was hungry, sir," she admitted politely. "I haven't eaten in days."

The man continued to look down at her as he held both hands out for the apples which Cam easily handed him. The man half smiled at her then and gestured towards the house that the garden was attached to.

"Come on in and get a decent meal, kid," he told her.

Cam frowned, feeling Kel'an doing the same as she followed after the man as he led her into the house, through the back door, and into the kitchen. "Where do I sit, sir?" she asked as she looked around the kitchen that held a small island in the middle with three stools.

"Anywhere you want, kid," he told her as he moved over to the stove. "You got a name?"

Cam paused for a moment, unsure. _**Might as well tell him, **_Kel'an urged her. _**He won't be able to do anything.**_

"Camilla," she said eventually as she sat in the stool nearest the back door.

"Camilla," the man repeated as he turned around and walked over, carrying two plates of food, one was a cereal while the other was an omelette. The man placed the cereal in front of her. "Eat up."

Cam nodded as she picked up a spoon and began to eat with a fervour that surprised her. The man chuckled as he took one of the stools and sat opposite her.

"Slow down kid," he told her as he started eating his omelette. "You'll make yourself sick."

Cam smiled slightly and slowed down. "Thank you sir," she said between mouthfuls.

"Call me Jacob kid," he told her before he took a mouthful. "Where are your parents?"

Cam shrugged as she swallowed. "They didn't want me," she said as she looked down at her bowl. "They hated me."

Jacob stopped eating and leaned forwards, looking at her. "What did they do Camilla?"

Cam looked away and rubbed her arms self-consciously, absently rubbing the bruises on her upper arms where her father had grabbed her before she had ran away. Kel'an was still healing the damage.

_What should I tell him Kel'an? _she asked her symbiote.

_**He sounds like he genuinely wants to help, **_Kel'an told her.

Cam swallowed as she bit her lip before she raised one long sleeve of her shirt, exposing the deep purple bruise on her left arm. She winced when she heard Jacob's knife and fork fall, ringing as they hit the surface of the island. She kept looking away until she saw Jacob standing in front of her, looking at her arm.

"They did this to you?" he asked her quietly.

Cam bit her lip nodded. "They didn't like me," she repeated eventually. "They made sure that I knew."

Jacob nodded slightly before he looked out of the window, seeing the sun slowly setting. "You need a place to stay?" he asked her when he looked back.

Cam nodded. _It's better than anything we've had so far, _she commented to Kel'an.

_**It is,**_ she agreed. _**But what does he want?**_

_Don't know, _Cam admitted.

"Pick any room you want," Jacob told her.

Cam cocked her head slightly at him. "What do you want from me sir?" she asked him.

Jacob smiled slightly. "Nothing kid," he told her. "I just want to help."

Cam nodded and climbed down off of her stool and made to leave the room before she stopped and turned to look at him. "Where are the bedrooms Jacob?" she asked.

Jacob's smile widened and he laughed slightly. "I'll show you."

**

* * *

**

THE NEXT DAY

Cam slowly opened her eyes when she felt herself lying on a soft bed. Her eyes took in the sight of the sparsely covered cream walls. She felt Kel'an slowly stir in her mind as she sat up. She looked down at herself and saw she was wearing the clothes she had worn the day before, still covered in the dirt from the road and the gardens she had trekked through.

_What time is it? _Cam asked Kel'an quietly.

_**8 am. Still early, **_Kel'an commented tiredly. _**You've been waking up early since you left your parents.**_

Cam nodded as she stretched, hearing a few bones in her back click quietly. _You sound tired._

_**You're young still Cam, **_Kel'an told her with a mental yawn. _**You haven't been getting the sleep we both need and I won't sleep when you're awake.**_

Cam smiled slightly before she too yawned. _Get some now, _she said. _You sound like you need it._

Kel'an grumbled quietly for a moment before Cam felt her fall asleep, seeming to curl up in her mind before dropping off. She smiled as she quietly climbed out of the bed and moved to the door, opening it easily and stepped into the corridor. She looked around, seeing the other rooms were open, including Jacob's. She could just see his bed, all neat and clean while the curtains were open. She nodded once to herself before she slowly climbed down the stairs on bare feet, her ratty shoes lying neatly by the front door.

The lounge was empty as Cam walked through it to the kitchen where she saw Jacob standing by the kettle, making a hot drink presumably for himself. Jacob turned slightly and smiled at her.

"You're awake," he commented. "You want something to drink?"

Cam nodded mutely as she sat on one of the stools. "Please," she said, seeing Jacob smile at her.

"You like hot chocolate kid?" he asked her.

Cam frowned and cocked her head slightly, confused. "What's hot chocolate?" she replied.

A dark look entered Jacob's eyes as he turned around, holding a steaming mug that he placed in front of her. "You've never had hot chocolate before?" Cam shook her head and Jacob smiled slightly. "You'll like it. Try it."

Cam gingerly took the steaming mug into her hands and lifted the rim to her lips, taking a small sip. She smiled at the taste and had a bit more. Jacob smiled as he sat opposite her, holding his own mug before he drank as well.

"Thank you," she said a few moments later when she had managed to quench her sudden thirst for the drink.

Jacob smiled at her and set his mug down. "Told you kid," he said. "You sleep well?"

Cam nodded. "Thank you," she responded.

Jacob chuckled. "You need a place to stay?" Cam shrugged. "You can stay here."

Cam looked at him, chocked. "You'd want me to stay here?" she asked.

Jacob smiled at her. "You're a kid Camilla," he told her. "I want to help you." He looked at her curiously for a moment. "How old are you?"

Cam swallowed a mouthful of the hot chocolate. "Eight."

Jacob nodded slightly. "Let me get a few things sorted and you can stay here," he told her.

Cam nodded, smiling as she gently nudged at Kel'an, waking her. _**What? **_Kel'an asked her.

_Jacob wants us to stay here! _she told her symbiote happily.

Kel'an smiled as Jacob finished his cup of hot chocolate and stood up. _**That's good, **_she commented. _**You need a new home. **_Cam continued to smile as she drank her hot chocolate. _**That tastes good!**_

Cam chuckled before she finished her cup.

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What did you think? Let me know. I like constructive criticisms about my work and for those that don't have an account, feel free to comment, just let me know what you think. Within reason of course.


	2. Chapter 1: Rising to the Challenge

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Cam, Kel'an and maybe the little plot twists I've put in here!

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**EDIT::: **This chapter would not be here if it was not for Fluffy's minion betaing for me to make sure that there weren't too many errors in this. Thanks are due to Fluffy's minion.

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At the beginning of every chapter from now on there will now be little pieces written at the beginning showing what happened to Cam in the earlier seasons and these _**might**_ include little pieces about Cam's life in between episodes. At the end of every chapter (I hope) there will be two quotes I believe surmise what the episode is about. Please read and enjoy.

_**

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**_

SIX YEARS LATER

_Cam sighed as she walked down the stairs that morning. Jacob, her adoptive father, had been diagnosed with lymphoma cancer a few months before. He'd had an operation to remove a few weeks after that to remove them. She smiled as she saw her father sitting on the sofa in the lounge, talking on the phone to someone. She smiled as she walked into the kitchen and made her father's usual morning coffee after she had looked at the clock by the entrance to the kitchen._

**You seem chipper today,**_ Kel'an commented as she switched the kettle on._

_Cam shrugged as she made the coffee while she waited for the kettle to boil. _Don't know,_ she replied. _I just am.

_She heard Jacob put down the phone with a sigh before he stood up and walked into the kitchen. "Morning kid," he told her. "You slept late."_

"_It's the weekend," Cam replied as the kettle boiled. She picked it up and quickly made her father's coffee. "I've done everything that needs doing for school."_

_Jacob chuckled and Cam heard how tired he was as he sat down at the island. "You're finished then?" he asked as she carried his coffee to him. "Thanks."_

_Cam nodded. "All the work's done and Sasha's busy with her mum today," she said. "Who was calling?"_

_Jacob sighed as he took a deep drink of coffee. "That was the hospital," he told her. "The tests have come back positive."_

No, please,_ she thought before she felt Kel'an's mental embrace around her._

_Cam held onto the island and let her strength go as she held onto the edge of the island, feeling Kel'an take partial control to stop her from breaking the table top. "Your liver?" she asked._

_Jacob nodded. "Looks like they didn't catch it all," he told her. "I need to go to them soon."_

_Cam nodded. "Is there anyone you need me to call?" she asked._

"_Do you remember George Hammond?" he asked her._

_Cam nodded again. "I remember," she said. "I'll go call him."_

_Jacob smiled thankfully at her and pulled her into a gentle hug. "Thank you Cam," he told her._

_Cam hugged him back, holding him slightly gingerly for a moment before she tightened when she felt Kel'an take control of her strength. "You're welcome dad," she replied before he let her go._

_She moved into the lunge and reached for the phone, smiling slightly as Kel'an brought Hammond's number to the front of her mind. She quickly dialled the number and heard it ring for a moment before she heard it stop._

"_Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Base," a feminine voice calmly spoke. "How may I be of service?"_

"_I'd like to speak to General Hammond please," she replied._

"_Who is calling?"_

"_Camilla Carter."_

"_One moment please."_

_She waited until she heard another voice speak. "Camilla?" Hammond asked her. "Is everything okay?"_

_Cam nodded; despite the fact that she knew he couldn't see her. "Everything's fine sir," she told him. "Dad got a call from the hospital today. The tests came back positive."_

"_Ah no!" Hammond said with a pained sigh. "I'll be at the hospital as soon as I can."_

_Cam smiled slightly and nodded again. "Thank you sir," she said, swallowing past the lump in her throat._

"_I'll see you soon," Hammond told her before she heard the buzzing signalling he had ended the call._

_

* * *

_

Little over an hour later Cam sat in an uncomfortable hospital chair beside her father's bedside as he lay propped up so that he looked like he was sitting as he slept. She held one of his limp hands in her own, using her sensitive touch to feel his pulse racing beneath her fingers at his wrist. She could just hear the hiss of air as the nasal cannula rested improperly on Jacob's face as his head rested on the pillow behind him. She looked up when she heard the sound of Air Force shoes walking towards the room and saw Hammond looking through window in the door before he smiled slightly and stepped inside.

"_How is he Camilla?" he asked her quietly as he walked over._

"_He's fighting," she told him. "The doctor's admittedly not optimistic he's not going to live long enough to see the end of the weekend."_

_Hammond smiled slightly and moved around, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "He'll pull through," he told her._

_A quiet groan had Cam turning to look at Jacob as he stirred. She felt his grip on her hand tighten for a moment before his eyes opened. Cam smiled as Jacob let go of her hand and pushed himself up slightly, looking at Hammond._

"_George," Jacob said quietly in greeting._

_Hammond nodded slightly. "Jacob," he greeted the other man. "Are you alright?"_

"_I've been better," Jacob told him as Cam stood up, moving out of Hammond's way._

"_I was under the impression that the cancer hadn't gotten this far," Hammond commented._

_Jacob nodded slightly. "So was I," he replied. "They cleaned out all the lymph nodes; the problem is, apparently, one squadron of those little buggers got themselves reassigned to my liver."_

_Cam smiled slightly at her father. "Let me make a call," Hammond said after a moment, reaching for the phone in the room. "Get Captain Carter recalled."_

_Jacob shook his head. "No," he disagreed, stopping Hammond for going any further. "There's no need."_

_Hammond looked at him oddly. "Jacob, she should be here," he told him._

_Cam, sensing when her presence wasn't needed, stepped away from her father's side. "I'll go get some food," she said gently. "You want me to get you anything?" She looked at the two men._

_Hammond shook his head while Jacob looked at her hopefully. "A burger?" he asked her._

_Cam smiled and nodded. "I'll try and bring one dad," she promised as she left the room._

_When she was sure that the two wouldn't hear her, she leaned against the wall next to her and covered her face with her hands before she started to sob quietly. _He's dying! And there's nothing I can do,_ she cried to Kel'an before she felt her symbiote's mental embrace in her mind._

**I'm sorry Cam, **_Kel'an agreed sombrely._ **Without a healing device, he stands no chance.**

_Cam nodded slightly as her sobs continued._ I know_, she replied._ I just feel helpless.

**Let's go get some food, **_Kel'an told her, smiling slightly._

Let's, _Cam agreed._

_

* * *

_

Cam moved easily through the corridors of the hospital towards Jacob's room, her face clear of any traces of her crying. In her hands she carried a small tray with a hospital burger. In the pocket of her thin tan outer jacket was a bottle of Pepsi. The sound of machines flat lining filled her with worry as she picked up her pace and jogged to the room. It wasn't helped seeing various nurses moving into the room.

Please, no, _she thought._

**We can hope Cam, **_Kel'an replied as she hurried into the room._

_She saw one doctor checking Jacob's pulse before he shook his head. "Again," he said, picking up a pair of paddles. "300."_

_She watched as he rubbed the paddles together for a moment before he placed them on two orange squares on Jacob's bare chest, his hospital gown having been opened to allow the paddles to be applied. He nodded._

"_300," one nurse confirmed._

"_Clear!" the doctor ordered, the nurses stepping back slightly at it. He pressed a button and a shock surged through Jacob's body, arching it. The doctor placed the paddles down and checked her father. "Normal sinus," he clarified. "Okay." He smiled as he pulled his penlight out and leaned over slightly, shining it in Jacob's eyes. "Hey General. How're you doing?"_

_Cam sighed in relief as she heard the flat lines disappear as Jacob merely groaned in response. She moved passed Hammond over to her father's side, placing the tray of food on a table in the room. She gently took her father's hand into her own and grasped it gently, careful not to use all her strength._

"_Just hold on dad," she muttered. "Please."_

_She sighed as she let go of his hand moved around the bed. She sat down and just looked at Jacob, feeling a sudden exhaustion rolling through her. She leaned forwards and rested her arms on the bed, one resting by her father's side while she rested her head on her other arm, letting sleep claim her._

**Get your rest Cam, **_Kel'an told her before she fell asleep._

_

* * *

_

Cam started awake when she felt someone touching her head. She shot up and saw Jacob looking weakly at her as one hand rested on her arm.

"_Hey dad," she said quietly. "How are you feeling?"_

"_Terrible," he rasped out, his voice cracking for a moment. "Water."_

_Cam nodded and grabbed the cup of water and held the straw close enough for him to grab with his lips. "That better?" she asked after a moment._

_Jacob nodded and pulled back, away from the water. "Much," he told her as he shook his head. "You sleep well?"_

_Cam blushed slightly. "A little," she replied. "Still worried for you."_

_Jacob smiled and closed his eyes, probably to blink away something but Cam could only smile as his head tipped back slightly as he fell asleep. _**He needs it, **_Kel'an commented._

_Cam could only smile and nod as she took her father's hand in her own, holding it gently. She just kept watch over her father until the nurses came in to check on him. He started awake when one nurse began checking the IV port in his hand. She looked up when she heard the door open, admitting Hammond inside with two other people, one a man, the other Sam Carter, Jacob's eldest and biological daughter._

"_Clear the room, people," Hammond ordered as Sam moved over to the bed._

_The nurses followed his order as Cam slowly stood up. Hammond smiled and shook his head at her, gesturing for her to sit back down. Cam smiled slightly as Jacob turned his head and sighed._

"_I told you not to recall her," he said quietly._

_Sam smiled slightly. "Happy to see you too, dad," she said as she sat down on the bed._

_Hammond took the seat on the other side of the bed. "You wanted me to tell you what Captain Carter does," Hammond began carefully. "So I thought maybe she could tell you herself."_

_Jacob sighed. "Yeah?" he asked. "What happened to the classification?"_

"_It's still classified," Hammond replied. "But you and Camilla just got clearance."_

_Jacob sighed again. "Why?"_

_Sam smiled. "Well, believe it or not, we need your help dad," she said._

_Jacob laughed and Cam smiled slightly until he started to cough. "What?" he asked when he had stopped to breathe. "The Pentagon wants me to deliver a message to God when I get up there?"_

"_Not exactly," Hammond admitted._

_Jacob nodded slightly. "Well, I don't plan to see the other guy," he said._

_Sam just took a breath before she started. "Dad, have you ever heard of the Stargate program?" she asked._

_Cam let Kel'an take control of her body to stop herself from sitting up straight at the mention of the Stargate. Jacob shook his head slightly._

"_No," he replied, confused. "Is that one of your satellites?"_

_Cam frowned. _**It has to be a cover story,** _Kel'an commented._

"_I don't work with satellites, dad," Sam said, smiling slightly. "That was just a cover."_

**Told you.**

Oh shut it!

_Jacob chuckled for a moment. "No kidding," he managed. "I never would have guessed." Cam smiled at the sarcasm that was prevalent in his voice. "So, tell me, what do you do that's so great you don't want me to get you into the astronaut program?"_

**Might as well tell them Cam, **_Kel'an put in. _**We won't be able to hide it for much longer.**

I know, _Cam replied_. I just don't want to say anything and look like a complete loon.

**She's talking about the Stargate, the Chappa'ai, Cam, **_Kel'an said calmly_. **What else would she be talking about called that?**

Alright! _Cam said._

"_We discovered a piece of alien technology," Sam said. "It can send us to thousands of planets all over the galaxy."_

_Jacob looked between her and Hammond for a moment. "You're not kidding are you?" he asked her._

_Sam shook her head. "No."_

_A smile cut Jacob's in half in joy. "Holy Hannah!" he exclaimed before he took a breath. "So, what do you want me to do?"_

_Sam smiled and sighed. "Well, we'd like you to travel to one of these planets with us," she said._

"_Why? So I can die there?"_

_Sam's smile widened for a moment. "No," she replied. "Actually, I'm hoping what we want you to do will cure your cancer."_

"_They have a cure there?" he asked as he forced himself to sit up further. "What's the catch?"_

_Hammond sighed. "It's a doozie Jacob," Hammond told him. "I won't lie to you on that."_

_Cam frowned as she decided to speak up. "Are you speaking about the Tollan or the Tok'ra?" she asked them._

_Both Sam and Hammond looked at her while Jacob just looked between them all. "Where did you learn about those names?" Hammond asked her._

_Cam shrugged. "I know both personally," she admitted. "The Tollan are a peaceful people and the Tok'ra are a resistant people to the forces of the Goa'uld."_

"_How do you know that?" Sam asked her._

_Cam shrugged again. "Tok'ra," she said. "I've sensed, ever since you came in here, another being inside you. Since you're obviously not a Goa'uld host, you are a Tok'ra host. Who is she?"_

_Sam seemed to struggle within herself. "She was Jolinar of Malk-shure," she replied. "She's dead."_

_Cam felt Kel'an's pain at hearing the news and felt her own face betray her. "Did she leave you any memories of a Tok'ra called Kel'an?" she asked._

_Sam frowned for a moment and closed her eyes, seeming to think before realisation dawned on her. "His host was a man named Al'ek," she said after a moment. "They've been missing for six years now."_

_Cam nodded. "Al'ek died in a cornfield not far from the city outside Cheyenne Mountain," she said and she felt Al'ek's memories of her over him. "He asked me to take Kel'an, to save him. I've been Kel's host for six years."_

_Sam seemed to nod before she looked at her father. "There's a symbiote like Kel'an who needs a new host," she said. "She's dying."_

"_What's the catch?"_

"_You won't like it."_

"_Who says I have to?"_

_

* * *

_

Cam stood in the Gateroom as the Stargate dialled, wearing the clothes she had worn through the day; her thin tan jacket was a bit ruffled, her jeans were a bit muddy from the last time she had walked on the muddy grass outside her house a month ago while her simple tan shirt was tucked over her jeans were her army style boots poked out from under the hem of her jeans. A man that had introduced himself as Colonel Jack O'Neill was walking with Sam, helping Jacob into the Gateroom.

We're going home!_ Cam crowed happily._

**To others of our race, **_Kel'an agreed with a happy hum. _**To be amoung the Tok'ra. It is something I had given up hope on.**

I think it is safe to say that that hope is alive again,_ Cam commented as the door to her right opened and Sam walked in, holding gently onto her father's upper arm and O'Neill stood next to her._

_O'Neill nodded to her politely. "Chevron six encoded," a voice called over the PA system._

"_You been through one of these before kid?" he asked her._

_Cam shook her head. "First time Colonel," she admitted. "I know exactly what to expect though."_

_O'Neill nodded again with a slightly disbelieving look. "We've worked a few bugs out," he told her. "You won't freeze."_

_Cam nodded slightly. "Chevron seven locked," the same voice called out._

_Cam smiled with a distant familiarity as the event horizon arched outwards for a moment before settling back in the diameter of the Stargate. "It looks good," she admitted as O'Neill turned to speak with Jacob._

_Cam smirked for a moment before Sam started up the ramp. Cam moved in front of them._

"_I'll go see if there's a welcoming party," she said._

_Sam smiled in response before Cam turned and stepped through the Gate. Cam stepped easily onto the stone dais that the Stargate stood on before she noticed the desert around her. She moved to the nearby dialling device and saw that it was partially buried._

This is the same world that Al'ek left,_ Cam commented._

**They have obviously not moved in many years, **_Kel'an told her as Cam turned and perched herself on the edge of the dialling device with a smile._

I am sorry about Jolinar,_ Cam continued. _How do you think Martouf took it?

**Poorly, **_Kel'an said after a moment_. **While he and Lantash have supreme control of their emotions, the news would have hit him hard.**

_Cam smiled as her father appeared with Sam and O'Neill on either side of him. Jacob was smiling slightly as Cam pushed herself to her feet and started walking towards them._

"_You do that a lot?" Jacob asked Sam as Cam stopped at the bottom of the dais' steps._

_Sam nodded, smiling slightly. "Yeah," she replied. "Once or twice a week."_

"_It beats the hell out of a shuttle on the back of a rocket," Jacob commented idly._

"_Goes a lot further too," O'Neill agreed._

"_I was expecting a party of Tok'ra to greet us," Cam commented as they climbed down._

"_You sure this is another planet?" Jacob asked as they walked on the sand towards a gap between two dunes. "It looks like Earth."_

_Cam smiled. "Yeah," Sam replied. "We figure the Stargate system was built specifically to transport humans or something close to humans in physiology. So it seems to go mostly to places where the environment supports life."_

_Cam felt Kel'an chuckle quietly as she stopped walking and moved into a jog, heading to where she knew the Goa'uld transportation rings lay. She turned when she reached the area and waved at the others before the rings surrounded her with the familiar hum. After a flash of light she appeared in the crystalline Tok'ra tunnels below, seeing the Tok'ra scurrying around as they emptied the tunnels. As Cam stepped away from the rings she saw two Tok'ra move and place a large container in the middle. The rings came down then and the container disappeared._

_Cam nodded once as she allowed Kel'an to take control after she had felt a strong nudge in her mind. She watched as Kel'an easily navigated the Tok'ra tunnels as she walked to the only crystal room she knew of that usually held the Tok'ra that were injured or waiting for new hosts. Kel'an shyly arched her head around the corner of the doorway and saw Al'ek's brother standing by the bedside of an aging woman._

"_**Martouf?" **__she called quietly as she stepped into the doorway so that he could see her fully._

_The man frowned as he turned to look at her curiously. "I do not recognise you," he said. "Explain yourself."_

_Kel'an smiled weakly. __**"Your mate was Rosha and her symbiote Jolinar of Malk-shure," **__she said. __**"Your brother, Al'ek disappeared six years ago." **__She sighed before she spoke once more. __**"I am Kel'an."**_

_Martouf's frown disappeared as a look of joy took its place. He moved away from the woman on the crystal bed and over to her._

"_Why are you in a new host?" he asked her as he hugged her close. "Where is Al'ek?"_

_Kel'an tightened her embrace for a moment before she stepped back and felt Cam nudge at her mind gently. Kel'an closed her eyes and lowered her head for a moment, allowing Cam to take control that lifted their head and opened their eyes._

"_I found Al'ek and Kel'an dying on Earth," she told him. "I tried to save Al'ek, Martouf, I really did." She sighed. "Al'ek urged me to take Kel'an to save one of them."_

_Martouf embraced Cam this time, holding her close as her tears started to fall, old memories rushing over her. "Come inside," he told her as he let go of her, but kept an arm around her shoulders, allowing her to lean against him as he led her into the room. "I am glad that Kel'an has returned to the Tok'ra. Can you tell me your name?"_

_Cam sniffed and rubbed at her eyes, drying the tears, before she nodded. "I'm Camilla," she said quietly. "Brother?"_

_Martouf smiled and held her close. "You view me as one?" he asked her._

_Cam nodded slightly. "With all that Kel' knows, I feel as though I've known you for more than a hundred years," she admitted._

_Martouf chuckled slightly. "Brother it is then, sister," he told her before his face became sombre. "Kel'an, I am sorry, Saroosh is not well."_

_Cam stepped aside before Kel'an had a chance to nudge at her mind, pushing herself away from Martouf as she did so, allowing herself up herself. She bowed her head as it took place before Kel'an raised it._

"_**Is there anything that can be done?" **__she asked._

_Martouf bowed his own head in response, closing his eyes as his symbiote, Lantash took control. __**"Everything has been done," **__he told her. __**"The Tau'ri have offered a host in the form of Captain Carter's father."**_

_Kel'an nodded. __**"He is also my host's father," **__she told him. __**"He adopted her a few days after Al'ek died."**_

_Lantash frowned. __**"Is she agreeable with him becoming a host?" **__he asked._

_Kel'an nodded. __**"She has been wondering for many months how to help him heal from his cancer," **__she said. __**"She was close to taking apart a device in their home and trying to make a healing device."**_

_Lantash smiled sadly. __**"Do you know where Captain Carter is?" **__he asked._

_Kel'an shrugged. __**"They should have entered the tunnels by now," **__she said. __**"My host and I were only a minute ahead of them." **__She sighed. __**"It may be that Captain Carter is allowing her father to adjust to a new world."**_

_Lantash nodded. __**"For those who have never travelled, it is rather disconcerting," **__he agreed. __**"May I speak to your host?"**_

_Kel'an nodded and bowed her head, allowing a rather reluctant Cam to take control. "Hello Lantash," she greeted Martouf's symbiote, bowing head slightly in respect._

_Lantash smiled slightly at her. __**"Can you tell me what happened to Martouf's brother?" **__he asked her._

_Cam shook her head. "I don't know much," she admitted. "All I know is that Kel'an and Al'ek were making a routine update to the Tok'ra before their ship was attacked." She closed her eyes as she tried to access the memories that Kel'an had hidden from her. "Everything had gone well in Cronus' sect, they had managed to gather some valuable information. They had taken a Death Glider to a pre-determined location where they spoke to another Tok'ra. Before the information could be passed, the ship attacked them." She opened her eyes and looked at Lantash. "They barely managed to get away with their lives. They crashed in a cornfield on Earth and I found them. Al'ek was lying so awkwardly on the ground that I knew something was wrong." She sighed. "He urged me to take Kel'an, to save one of them. I had to leave his body in the open as we had no weapons to destroy his body."_

_Lantash nodded before he looked passed her, towards the archway that stood in for a doorway. __**"You have returned," **__he said as Cam turned around._

_Both Sam and Jacob stood in the doorway, looking in. "Yes," Sam replied before she touched her father's shoulder. "This is my father, Jacob Carter."_

_Lantash smiled. __**"Honoured," **__he said before he bowed his head, allowing Martouf control once more._

"_I am Martouf," her brother greeted them with a polite nod. "You have two, very special daughters."_

"_Why does he talk like that?" Jacob asked Sam, but Cam smiled weakly as she heard it._

"_He's a Tok'ra dad," Sam told him. "I told you about them. Cam even explained for you."_

_Recognition dawned on his face. "Oh," he said as he looked at Saroosh who lay asleep on the bed. "So these are the aliens you two were telling me about?"_

_Cam smiled. "Yes dad," she replied._

"_Well," Sam put in, slightly hesitant. "I don't know if you'd call them aliens. Sort of half alien I guess. I mean, the outside is human and the inside is shared between a human and a symbiote. Martouf is actually two different…." She seemed at a loss of words for a moment. "Souls, I guess, sharing the same body. It's the same with Cam."_

"_And that's what you want me to become?" he asked them both. "You gotta be kidding me."_

_Cam shook her head. "We aren't dad," she said. "Look how I turned out. I became a host to Kel'an when her previous host was dying. I have gained a longer lifespan and I heal quicker than normal."_

"_You have always healed faster than the other kids."_

_Cam smiled, only her father would say something like that. "That's one of them," she agreed. "I've also gained everything that Kel'an knows, both personal – like her previous host's family – and the professional – like how the Tok'ra resistance works and who's in control and how to greet each member according to their rank."_

"_That's a lot."_

_Cam chuckled. "Only a little piece of what I actually gain, dad," she admitted._

_

* * *

_

Jacob stood in the archway, looking at the corridor as he thought. Cam stayed by Saroosh's side, helping mop her face clean. Jacob stood up and slowly walked back into the room, standing on Saroosh's right.

"_I don't think I can do this Sam," he told his oldest daughter that stood next to Cam and Martouf._

"_**No one wishes to pressure you in any way, sir," **__Lantash said gently. __**"The decision is yours. But, before deciding, might I suggest that you take a moment to get to know the symbiote that wishes to blend with you."**_

_Jacob looked at Saroosh. "Is this her?" he asked._

"_Actually, you can only see the host," Sam said. "The symbiote's inside her."_

"_Inside her," Jacob said._

"_Talk to her, dad," Cam urged him. "Get to know her."_

_She looked down at Saroosh and saw Selmak open her eyes before looking at Jacob. __**"If you agree to the blending, we could be together for a very long time," **__she said before she started coughing._

"_You don't look so good," Jacob commented when she had stopped._

"_**You are no vision of beauty yourself, sir!" **__Selmak countered._

_Cam shared a smile with Lantash as Jacob started laughing before it deteriorated into a cough. She winced slightly as Selmak started coughing._

"_It's alright," he told Sam who had started moving to help him. "Sorry."_

_Selmak closed her eyes for a moment before they opened again. "I'm the one to whom you should be talking," Saroosh said._

"_You are the one I'm talking to," Jacob insisted. "Why, why did your voice change like that?"_

"_The host, is talking now dad," Cam explained._

"_I am Saroosh," Saroosh told Jacob. "I am in the position to help you most."_

"_How's that?"_

"_I will die," Saroosh explained weakly. "Selmak will live on, you will take my place as host."_

"_Um," Jacob said, startled slightly. "I don't understand."_

"_Selmak is a wonderful Tok'ra," Saroosh continued as if he hadn't spoken. "She is selfless and caring; she is good company; she has a wonderful sense of humour."_

_Sam smiled. "Well, that's good, dad," she said. "You can sit around for hours cracking yourself up."_

_Jacob glared good naturedly at her. "That's funny," he said._

_Saroosh chuckled slightly. "She's not far wrong," she agreed. "I've had almost two hundred years of laughter thanks to Selmak." She smiled slightly. "I'm biased of course, but I believe Selmak is amoung the best educated of the Tok'ra." She sighed sadly. "You will probably be overwhelmed by the knowledge and wisdom you will gain upon blending."_

"_So," Jacob began. "I get all of this thing's, err, what did you call is?" he asked. "In their head?"_

"_Symbiote," Cam supplied._

_Jacob nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "I get all its memories and stuff?"_

_Sam nodded. "Yeah, dad," she agreed. "Something like that."_

"_Then I won't deceive you, sir," Saroosh said. "We have some pretty awful things buried in our memory."_

_Cam lowered her head slightly in acknowledgement of Saroosh's statement, several memories springing to the surface before Kel'an brought them back down into her mind. "Such as?" Jacob asked._

"_Countless atrocities committed by the Goa'uld," Cam supplied for Saroosh. "The loss of the host before Saroosh, and you will feel Selmak's mourning for Saroosh."_

_Jacob nodded as he covered his mouth with one hand. "Will excuse me ma'am?" he asked before he hurried from the room, one hand pressed to his stomach._

_Cam looked down at Saroosh and smiled weakly. "You are Kel'an new host?" Saroosh asked._

_Cam nodded. "Yes ma'am," she replied._

_Saroosh's eyes flashed a white for a moment as she gasped in pain and Cam's lip trembled further. __**"Tell us what happened to Saroosh's youngest child," **__Selmak told her. __**"I wish to know what happened in Al'ek's final hours."**_

_Cam nodded. "I don't know much ma'am," she told her. "Kel'an won't show me everything that happened, but I found Al'ek lying in a field near my home when I ran away. I accepted Kel'an to save at least one of them. I am sorry that I could not save Al'ek."_

_Selmak shook her head. __**"You did what you could do my daughter," **__Selmak told her, raising one hand to rest it on her cheek in a calming gesture for them both, allowing Cam to grasp it gently._

_Selmak's eyes flashed as Saroosh took control. "I do not blame you," she said, her grasp weakening. "I have, at least, gained a daughter before I die."_

_Cam nodded, tears starting to run down her cheeks. "Thank you mother," she muttered before Saroosh looked at Martouf and gestured him closer._

_Cam climbed down off of the bed where she had been sitting and moved to one of the crystal walls. I am about to have one parent saved, only to lose another, she told Kel'an sadly as she examined the shape of one of the crystals._

**The universe isn't always fair, **_Kel'an mused._ **I had hoped that Saroosh would be strong enough to stay alive long enough for us to speak with her for longer than a few minutes like now.**

I know, _Cam sighed. _I just wish I could get to know her better.

_She and Kel'an paused as they both heard the sounds of military boots walking into the room. Jacob had walked into the room and nodded at Martouf._

"_Okay," he said after a moment. "What do I have to do?"_

_Martouf smiled slightly. "First, Selmak would like to interview you."_

"_Huh?" was Jacob's rather eloquent response._

_Selmak opened her eyes and sighed. __**"If I am to spend the next hundred years or more with you as my host," **__she began. __**"Do you not think I have the right to decide if I even like you?"**_

_Jacob laughed lightly. "What's not to like?" he asked. "Just ask my daughters, I'm a teddy bear."_

"_Oh yeah," Cam began sarcastically._

"_Real teddy bear," Sam finished for her, just as sarcastically._

"_**How do you feel about the Goa'uld?" **__Selmak asked as she turned her head slightly to look at Jacob curiously._

"_Well, you are the first one I've met," Jacob said, stepping into Selmak's trick question._

_Cam groaned as she let her head fall into her hands even as Kel'an mental growled at the association. "We're Tok'ra dad," she said. "Not Goa'uld."_

"_Ah," Jacob said after a moment. "Trick question?"_

_Sam nodded in response as he looked at her. "Remember dad," she said. "I tried to explain the difference."_

_Jacob nodded. "Right, right," he said, remembering. "I guess I've never met a Goa'uld before. Although from what Sam and the others tell me, I don't think I like them very much."_

_Selmak looked at Martouf and nodded once. Cam remembered what that meant and followed Martouf out into the doorway as he led Sam there to give the other two a bit of privacy. They all watched as the two spoke quietly for a minute before Selmak smiled._

"_**I have decided I like you," **__she said, loudly enough for them to hear her._

_Cam smiled slightly as she looked on, waiting until either her father or Martouf's mother called for them. "Super," Jacob said quietly._

"_**But I must be sure that you understand, there will be no turning back," **__Selmak said. __**"I cannot blend with you, cure your disease, then leave. To do so would probably kill us both."**_

_Jacob nodded. "I understand," he said. "Let me ask you something. After we do this, will I still be able to talk to my daughters?"_

"_**The way Saroosh talked to you, yes," **__Selmak answered. __**"But you and your children must understand, the blending may not work at all. I am very weak, and the damage to your body may be too extensive."**_

_Jacob nodded again. "In other words, we might die anyway," he said._

"_**Yes."**_

_Jacob turned to look at them for a moment before he looked back at Selmak and bit his lip. "Then can you give me five with my kids?" he asked._

"_**Of course," **__Selmak agreed._

_Jacob smiled and moved away, walking towards them. Martouf rested his hand gently on Jacob's upper arm._

"_**You must hurry," **__Lantash spoke. __**"We don't have much time."**_

_Jacob nodded as Cam followed after Lantash as he moved to Saroosh's side. Cam looked over her shoulder and smiled at Sam for a moment as Jacob touched his oldest daughter's shoulder, pulling her to the side so he could speak with her._

_

* * *

_

Cam sat on Selmak's bed once more as she used a dry cloth and mopped at her forehead, drying it as she sweated from the effort of keeping her host alive a bit longer.

"_**It is worth the extra effort to continue to live," **__Selmak told her, easily reading Cam's face._

_Cam smiled at her. "I know mother," she said. "But it makes me worry that you are expending so much of your energy."_

"_**It cannot be helped," **__she replied. __**"To continue to live is the gift that Jacob Carter gives me."**_

_Cam smiled. "That's dad for you," she said. "He always wants to do the best thing by other people."_

"_**He is a good man," **__Lantash said. __**"He will be a good host."**_

_Cam smiled and nodded as she wiped at Selmak's forehead again._

"_Cam?" Sam called from the archway. "Dad wants you."_

_Cam nodded and smiled at Selmak. "I'll be back," she muttered as she reluctantly lowered her hand._

_She moved away from the bed, passing Sam who walked over to Martouf while she stepped over to her dad._

_

* * *

_

Cam sat behind Martouf and Sam while Jacob and Saroosh lay on the crystal bed, facing each other.

"_We do not enter our hosts through the back of the neck," Martouf told Sam. "This just leaves a scar that many of us find unsettling."_

"_So why don't the Goa'uld do it this way too?" Sam asked._

"_We Tok'ra believe they don't wish to remember the horror of their host's faces whenever they see their own reflection," Cam told her quietly. "We don't know for sure."_

_Sam looked at her and nodded after a moment._

"_You must step away, Captain Carter," Martouf told her._

_Jacob turned his head slightly. "Goodbye kids," he muttered._

"_See you soon dad," Cam heard Sam mutter before Jacob turned back, clearing his throat slightly. "Now what?"_

"_**Kiss me," **__Selmak told him weakly._

"_You're kidding me right?"_

"_**No, I am not."**_

_Cam watched as the two leaned towards each other after a moment before Jacob gasped, his body stiffening as Selmak entered him. __**"Goodbye, dear friend," **__Selmak said, from his new host before his eyes closed and his breathing evened._

_Cam bit her lip and leaned forwards slightly, resting her head in her hands as sobs started to wrack her body. _Please Kel'?_ Cam asked her symbiote, Kel'an._

_She mentally stepped to the side, allowing Kel'an to take control, her body stiffening for a moment before Kel'an stopped her crying and looked up, seeing Martouf pulling the thin blanket over Saroosh's face while he talked quietly with Sam. Another Tok'ra dashed inside, still wearing the desert uniform most Tok'ra wore when they hid around the Stargate._

"_**Our scouts have spotted the Goa'uld ships dropping from hyperspace," **__they reported.__** "They will start attacking from the air and through the 'Gate within hours. Garshaw orders that we must destroy the complex."**_

_Kel'an stood up then, gaining the Tok'ra's attention. __**"We cannot move Selmak's new host!" **__she said. __**"They will both die if we do so!"**_

_The Tok'ra nodded and left the room. Kel'an looked back at Jacob, consoling Cam for a few minutes until Yosuf, Garshaw's host walked inside, leading a group of men that Kel'an didn't recognise except for O'Neill._

"_Martouf, all the tunnels but this one and the escape have vanished," Yosuf told them. "All other Tok'ra have gone to the new homeworld; we must go now!"_

_Kel'an shook her head. __**"Saroosh is dead Yosuf," **__she spoke, letting Cam's feelings pour into her voice. __**"You know as well as I do that we cannot move them."**_

"_When and if he awakens, Selmak knows where we'll be," Yosuf replied. "He can follow."_

"_But the Goa'uld are coming," one of the other men said, wearing similar clothing to O'Neill although he wore a pair of large, circular glasses. "They'll capture him."_

"_If he's captured, he will die before he will reveal our whereabouts!"_

"_Well, then take him with you!" Sam snapped._

"_Or we'll take him with us," O'Neill said._

_Martouf shook his head. "I'm afraid that to transport him now, he will die," he said and Kel'an felt her heart constrict in sympathetic pain as Cam groaned at the news. "He needs to remain stationary until Selmak has completed her repairs."_

_Sam looked torn for a moment. " We can't just leave him here!" she stated, pain clear on her face._

"_I will remain with him. If I can get him out, I will," he told them. "If not, I will allow the vanishing tunnels to consume us before the Goa'uld get here."_

_Yosuf lowered her head, allowing Garshaw to take control before she shook her head. __**"I cannot allow you to die in this way,"**__ she said. __**"We must leave now!"**_

_Sam bit her lip before she nodded. "I'll stay,"__she said._

"_**As will I," **__Kel'an agreed._

"_**You are even more vulnerable since you contain the memories of Jolinar, Captain Carter!"**__ Garshaw told her. __**"I cannot allow you to stay. We must go now!"**_

"_She's right, Captain," O'Neill agreed. "We have to go."_

_Sam shook her head. "With respect, no, sir. I am not leaving him here."_

"_Captain Carter, Kel'an and I will all remain," Martouf said. "I will assure that we will not be taken by the Goa'uld."_

"_Please, Colonel. I need to be here."_

_O'Neill looked at her for a moment. "Right," he said before he nodded to the two other men. "Daniel? Teal'c? Let's go."_

_He turned around, the two men staying behind for a moment, sharing a look before they followed after him. Garshaw looked at the trio as they stay standing. Kel'an nodded and Garshaw turned and left before Kel'an lowered her head, allowing Cam take control once more. Martouf sat next to her, holding her against him, allowing her to feel close to her family amoung the Tok'ra. It was only when a sigh echoed from Jacob's lips did anyone start looking up hopefully._

"_Dad?" Sam asked, looking at him hopefully as he sat up._

"_**Martouf?" **__Selmak asked and both Cam and Sam looked disappointed._

"_I am here," Martouf responded._

"_**Should we not make our escape?" **__Selmak asked when the tunnel shook as blast from the space hit the surface._

_Martouf smiled and Cam recognised from Al'ek's memories that Selmak had occasionally stated the obvious, oblivious to the funny side. "Yes, we should," he agreed._

"_Uh, is my dad in their somewhere?" Sam asked._

_Selmak nodded before he lowered his head, closing his eyes. After a moment Jacob lifted his head and sighed._

"_I'm here Sam," he replied and looked at Cam, smiling weakly. "Hey kid." He groaned quietly then. "Oh man," he ground out. "Talk about your hangover."_

"_How are you dad?" Sam asked._

"_I'm awful," Jacob replied truthfully. "Headache the size of Kuwait. There's too much stuff in here."_

_Cam smiled and laughed lightly, surprising everyone. "It'll be like that for a while dad," she told him. "It took me a few days to get used to Kel'an."_

_Jacob smirked at her slightly and he got off of the bed. "Whoa!"_

_Immediately Martouf shot to his feet, Cam right behind him. "What?" Sam asked._

_Jacob merely laughed and bent all his limbs, obviously checking something. "No more arthritis!" he exclaimed happily. "Holy Hannah! No more arthritis!"_

_Cam looked up at Martouf and he nodded. "We should make our leave as soon as possible," he said, drawing the other two's attention. "This way."_

_They didn't exchange words as Martouf led them through the rapidly diminishing tunnels. They barely managed to get to the tunnel where the rings were as one of the tunnels started collapsing. Martouf moved quickly and pulled one crystal near the rings before he joined the others in the clear area as the rings descended, surrounding them in a white light before they appeared on the sandy surface. The rings, instead of descending back into the tunnels, separated one by one until they disappeared. Sam and Martouf looked around for a moment before they ran to the Stargate that lay in the distance. They reached the Stargate quickly, but not before the Stargate started spinning._

"_They are attempting to come through the Stargate," Martouf commented as Sam moved to the partially sand covered dialling device._

"_Not if I dial out first!" she snapped, pressing the symbols in quick succession. "We'll go to Earth. You can go wherever you need to from there."_

_They had all turned to look at Sam and now looked at the Gate, worry clear on their faces. "Did Sam open it, or did they?" Cam asked._

"_**We have no choice!" **__Selmak told them as he placed a hand on Cam's shoulder, pressing her closer to the Gate._

"_Wait!" Sam called out as Gliders flew overhead. She tapped the wrist device Cam had seen her wearing before._

_She nodded after a moment and Selmak pushed Cam through the Gate. Cam grunted when she came through on the other side, rolling down the ramp before coming to a stop at the bottom, sitting up as both her legs and hands stopped her from going any further._

"_Ow!" she muttered as she slowly stood up, hearing Selmak, Martouf and Sam stepping through before the Gate shut down. "That was fun!"_

"_**I must give you thanks," **__Selmak said, smiling as he walked down the ramp. __**"You have saved my life and that of my new host." **__Selmak nodded once more, smiling. __**"We thank you."**_

_Garshaw smiled, at least Cam hoped so. __**"This is wonderful news," **__she said and Cam relaxed, having guessed correctly._

_**Don't worry about it kid, **__Kel'an told her. __**You learn how to tell two Tok'ra apart with practise.**_

"_Can we talk to your new host?" Hammond, the General of the base, asked._

_Selmak bowed his head slightly, allowing Jacob to take control. Jacob seemed a bit unsure of what to do as a few moments passed before he raised his head. Jacob cleared his throat a bit self consciously._

"_So when the little fella inside me is talking, do I sound like she does?" he asked._

_One of the men Cam had only briefly met on the former Tok'ra homeworld nodded once, inclining his head at Jacob. "That is correct," he stated calmly, almost like he was used to the phenomenon._

_Jacob raised an eyebrow and nodded slightly. "That's strange," he admitted. "I can feel myself talking, but it's not me saying the words, you know?"_

"_Don't know," O'Neill told him and Cam smirked slightly at his remark. "Take your work for it." Cam felt her smirk widen._

"_How do you feel?" one of the other men asked._

"_Well," Jacob began, smiling as he rested a hand on Cam's shoulder lightly. "Considering I have one of those things inside me, pretty damn good!" He nodded to Hammond and they moved off, away from the group and talked quietly._

_Cam looked up when she felt a hand replace her father's on her shoulder. She smiled when she saw Martouf standing there. He gently drew her away from the others, leading her away from the Tok'ra before he crouched down in front of her and held out a hand sized circular device. Cam recognised it immediately._

"_A healing device?" she asked him. "This is yours."_

_Martouf smiled at her and pressed it into her hands. "I think you'll be staying here with your sister," he began quietly. "I have a feeling that you will need this."_

_Cam held it firmly in her hands before she wrapped her arms around Martouf's shoulders. "Thank you," she muttered. "Thank you brother."_

_She felt Martouf hug her back, enveloping her small frame in his arms. "I will take care of Jacob Carter as if he were my own father," he told her._

_Cam nodded. "I know," she said, understanding he meant it._

"_**We must go," **__Garshaw said finally._

"_You are safe here," the first man said._

"_**Because of the spy, the Goa'uld may already be at the site the Tok'ra have moved to."**_

_Sam looked at Martouf who stood up now, Cam standing in front of him, holding onto the healing device. "You can't stay a little longer?" she asked._

_Martouf shook his head. "No," he replied. "We must go quickly and stop the tunnels there before they are grown."_

"_They have to move the Tok'ra again before the System Lords get there," Cam piped up._

"_**Do you not have a dialling device here?" **__Garshaw asked as she absently pulled the thin black shawl tighter around herself in an attempt to warm her host against the chill in the military room._

_O'Neill nodded. "Yeah, we slapped one together," he told her._

_Garshaw's eyes widened slightly. __**"You made it yourself. Impressive," **__she said. __**"Will you show it to me? I would like to put in the coordinates myself."**_

_Hammond nodded and gestured to the now open sliding door next to him. "This way," he said, leading her out of the room and towards the room that overlooked the Stargate._

_Martouf smiled once more at Cam before he moved over to Sam and talked quietly with her while the Stargate dialled out. Garshaw soon came back in, following Hammond before she moved to the ramp at the base of the Gate._

"_**There will come a time when the Tok'ra and the people of the Tau'ri will destroy the System Lords," **__Garshaw said with a smile._

"_This'll be a good day," O'Neill agreed as the first man, the one with the glasses, raced over, carrying a small box. He handed it to Jacob who took it curiously._

"_Um, this box has a signature on it that we can recognise," he told him. "Just send it through the Gate and we'll know you want to contact us."_

"_**Thank you," **__Garshaw said. __**"Come, Selmak."**_

_Jacob quickly embraced Sam, muttering something before he pulled Cam into a hug after she had moved over to him. "I love you kid," he told her. "You'll be staying with Sam."_

_Cam nodded, hugging her father back, glad she finally didn't have to worry about her strength. "I figured dad," she replied quietly before they pulled apart._

_Jacob looked at O'Neill and smirked slightly. "Selmak says," he paused. "Let me see if I can translate this: 'Don't call us, we'll call you'."_

_Cam groaned, although she knew that O'Neill was smiling before the three older Tok'ra walked up the ramp and stepped through the Gate. Cam sighed before she looked at Sam who looked at her._

"_What now?" she asked._

* * *

**Chapter 1: Rising to the Challenge**

Cam Carter stood opposite her sister – at the age of twenty her long blonde hair was caught into a long braid at the top of her head that reached her waist – anger seeping through her sky blue eyes as she stared at Samantha Carter. Her arms were crossed in front of her as her fingers tapped continuously on her upper arms.

"Sam!" she exclaimed, continuing the conversation. "I want to do this! Daniel's in the Antarctic base translating! And I'm stuck here twiddling my thumbs! Besides, his knowledge is second hand!"

"Yours is also second hand!" Sam shot at her. "Daniel Ascended and was amoung the Ancients!"

"Oma Desala allowed him to keep his knowledge of the Ancients that he doesn't consciously use!" Cam shot back. "I'm the only person alive that has the entire Ancient library downloaded in her brain." She groaned as she rubbed at her forehead before she felt the pain soothing away. "The knowledge is enough to keep me up late most nights and I don't have an outlet to put it in. I'm old enough to make my own decisions Sam and I was hoping that my sister would understand that! Martouf knows what it's like for me!"

Sam's stance loosened as she stepped closer to her sister and pulled her close. "I'm sorry Cam," she muttered as the Tok'ra reluctantly wrapped her arms around her in reply. "I'm just worried that if Atlantis is as far away as I think it is then I won't see you for months at a time."

Cam held her older sister tightly, not using her full strength for fear of breaking her ribs, and sniffed. "I know Sam," she said. "I just wanna do something where I'll actually be able to help."

Sam pulled back slightly and frowned at her. "You help here," she protested.

Cam smiled at her. "I know," she replied. "It's just that I feel I'll be of more help with Weir with the weapons search than anything else I could do here, I mean, I'm just a consultant here language matters and an Ambassador to the Tok'ra."

Sam nodded and hugged her sister once more. "I understand."

**

* * *

**

SEVEN DAYS LATER, FLYING OVER THE ANTARCTIC SNOWY WASTELAND

General Jack O'Neill kept his grip loose on the seat beneath him as the helicopter he was sat in flew towards the Antarctic base. He knew that Cam, Sam's adopted sister, was already at the base, most probably helping Daniel translating the Ancient language that covered almost every surface inside the base. He looked at the pilot – shaking the thought out of his mind – a certain Major John Sheppard, who hadn't been read in. He shook his head again.

"What planes did you have to get to be allowed to do this?" he asked the pilot amiably.

"Apache, Black Hawk," Sheppard began to rattle off as he flew the 'copter. "Cobra, Osprey…"

Jack's eyes widened beneath the dark glasses he wore to protect his eyes against the sharp glare of the sun that shot off from the snow below. "That's a lot of training for the Antarctic," he commented into the headset.

"It was the one continent I never set foot on," Sheppard replied.

Jack shuddered, remembering his first year in front of the Antarctic Stargate, broken leg and ribs with a heavy mix of internal bleeding had forever ruined the joy he once had for the frozen wasteland. It didn't help that he had nearly died from an alien disease that the Ancient Ayiana hadn't been able to heal_ as well as _defeating Anubis' fleet with drones before freezing himself in a chamber. Or that's what the others had told him when he had asked about the base.

"It's one of my least favourite continents," he said, bringing himself out of the memories.

Sheppard shrugged. "I kinda like it here," he said.

Jack looked at him. "You like it here?" he asked the man as if he was mentally ill. _Probably is, _he thought to himself.

"Yes sir," Sheppard told him as he checked the instruments in front of him like the professional he was before he nodded. "Be there in about ten minutes, sir."

* * *

Cam stood in the Chair room where a certain Dr. Carson Beckett was fuming at McKay, a Canadian scientist, before he stood up. "You see?" he asked the man, his Scottish accent bristling with anger. "Nothing."

He started to walk away and all Cam could do was shake her head and smile. "Carson!" McKay hollered after the Scottish man as Elizabeth Weir walking in. "Get back here!" Beckett stopped for a moment, turning to look at McKay.

"I could sit in that chair all bloody day long and nothing would happen. It's a waste of time." He looked at Elizabeth and nodded his head slightly as he started walking again. "Excuse me Dr. Weir."

"He's not even trying!" McKay complained to Elizabeth who stepped into the room, being careful of the many and various computer screens that were scattered around the room showing a three dimensional schematic of the chair.

"But he's the one who discovered the gene this technology responds to," Elizabeth comment as she climbed the short stairs onto which the chair sat.

"I believe he commented on the fact that he wished he never had the gene," Cam told her as she rubbed her hands absently against the chill in the air.

"Really?"

"I know, can you believe that?" McKay retorted with an incredulous tone of voice.

Cam hid a smile behind her right hand while Elizabeth allowed hers to be seen. "We could always test you for a third time, Rodney," the older woman said.

"That's very funny," McKay grumbled, obviously annoyed.

Cam felt Kel'an nudge at her mind, gently pushing her away from control as Cam surrendered it, allowing her oldest friend and symbiote to take it as she lowered her head, closing her eyes. She stepped to the side, allowing Kel'an to take control before she raised her head and opened her eyes.

"**We have only found a small number of people who are compatible genetically with Ancient Technology," **Kel'an said, her voice distorted to nearly double; Cam's voice covered with a deeper, baritone, voice.

"Despite your heroic efforts to interface our technology with theirs, we need everyone to sit in this Chair, _including _Dr. Beckett," Elizabeth continued.

"What am I supposed to do?" McKay asked, raising his gloved hands. "He's afraid of that thing."

Kel'an chuckled, gaining their attention. **"I shall deal with the good Dr.," **she said as she stood up, pushing her host's body away and off of the pillar she had been leaning against. **"I'll get him back here for you McKay."**

She walked easily around the two and followed after the path that she knew Beckett had taken.

* * *

Kel'an held tightly onto Beckett's upper arms, tight enough to not let him get away easily but loose enough that he wouldn't bruise. McKay stood by the chair, his gloved fingers tapping impatiently on his neon orange winter fleece jacket. Beckett dug his heels in, hoping to stop Kel'an from pushing him further into the room but Kel'an merely smiled when he gave her a large opportunity to push him forwards.

"Look!" Beckett exclaimed. "We've been through this. I'm not your man."

"**Keep moving Dr.," **Kel'an muttered.

Beckett turned his head slightly to look at her. "I'm a doctor – a medical doctor," he clarified.

"There is nothing to be afraid of," McKay told the man.

Beckett shook his head. "You don't understand! I break things like this."

Kel'an shook her head as they walked up the three short stairs that the Chair stood on. **"This device has been here for millions of years Beckett," **she told him. **"It has survived the rigors of time –"**

"It will survive you," McKay agreed. "Now sit down, close your eyes and concentrate!"

Kel'an let go of Beckett's upper arms as the man sighed loudly in irritation before he sat down in the Chair. He placed his hands on the control pads of the Chair and closed his eyes, concentrating for a moment before he opened them.

"Again, nothing," he said as he made to stand, only to be pushed down by both Kel'an and McKay.

"This time, just try to imagine an image of where we are in the solar system," McKay told him.

Beckett sighed as he closed his eyes again. He remained still for several seconds. "I think I feel something," he said as he opened his eyes and looked at them. "It could be lunch related."

"**Just concentrate Dr.," **Kel'an muttered as she crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her fingers impatiently.

Beckett looked at them for a moment before he closed his eyes yet again. After a few moments the lights behind Beckett's head lit up as did the rest of the lights that were all over the Chair as it reclined. Beckett opened his eyes in panic before Kel'an heard the suddenly familiar sound of a lone drone starting up. She turned and saw Peter Grodin, a British scientist, snatch his hands back from the now active drone he had been working on as it hurtled away from him and smashed into an area filled with equipment which promptly exploded, sending numerous people flying as it moved quickly through the room.

Kel'an knew that several of those people would require healing when everything had settled down. The golden beam of flew around the room again, hitting more equipment before it headed towards and up the elevator shaft. Kel'an moved on instinct, heading towards the people that she knew were injured. She turned to McKay when she was only a yard away.

"**Get that drone under control!"**

She ignored the people who had the minor injuries of bruises as she moved to one person who lay on his back, a piece of shrapnel imbedded in his side from the first equipment explosion. Kel'an pulled out her healing device, even as she mentally stepped to the side, allowing Cam to take control to heal the man.

Cam held the small device over the man's side and let it begin to heal as she held it in her right hand while her left hand held onto the large piece of shrapnel. Peter Grodin appeared at her side and gently took the piece of shrapnel into his hand, allowing her to concentrate on the man's wound. She nodded when the piece of shrapnel had to be removed and heard the man groan as it was removed before the wound was healed shut, leaving only a faint line behind as a reminder.

* * *

Jack climbed out of his side of the copter and jumped out, kneeling in the snow. He stopped moving as the drone, its golden colour gone, crashed into the snow a few feet away from him and skittered across the top of the snow, stopping only a few inches from his outstretched hand he had put out only moments before to steady himself.

He stared at the drone for a moment before he sat back slightly, staring at it before he reluctantly picked it up and climbed back inside of the copter, noting that Sheppard was already back in his seat, the front of his uniform covered in the snow that he had apparently dived into.

"That was different," Sheppard said after a quiet moment as the two sat there, breathless and stunned.

Jack shrugged and looked down at the drone in his lap. "For me," he said. "Not so much."

* * *

Daniel absently rubbed his gloved hands as he stood by the elevator doors in the frozen outpost that was their current base with nothing outstanding back at the SGC. He sighed with relief when he saw the elevator came into view, showing Jack as well another man he recognised as the one who had ferried him to the base a few weeks before. He stepped away from the doors as they opened and they all climbed out, revealing Jack and the pilot still wearing their flight suits. He looked at his oldest friend.

"Jack!" he said finally after a moment, glad that he hadn't been shot down by the drone Beckett had accidentally fired.

Jack smiled at him as the helicopter pilot looked around at the half frozen base, a look of awe and wonder clear on his face.

"Daniel!" the Colonel responded warmly. "Warm welcome!"

Daniel barely avoided rolling his eyes as he merely pushed his glasses back up his nose so he could see clearly. "Wasn't me," he said first, making sure to get the blame off of him first before addressed other matters. "How did you manage to, uh…?"

"Keep my ass from gettin' blown out of the sky?" Jack finished for him before he turned slightly and gestured to the pilot. "The exceptional flying of Major John Sheppard." He looked back at Daniel. "He likes it here." Daniel saw the slight shudder of his friend's shoulders and smiled.

"Exceptional," he said before he paused and looked at the Major in surprise. "You like it here?"

Sheppard just shrugged at him as Jack turned to the archaeologist and started walking away, leaving the Major behind.

"What say we skip to the part where you start talking real fast?" Jack asked him quietly.

Daniel smiled at that and pointed to the room where McKay stood in clear view. "Ah, Weir's in here," he said as he began to lead the way.

"Hey!" he heard Jack turn and say to the Major. "Don't touch anything!"

"Yes sir!" came the reply from the Major.

* * *

Cam was still healing people, now moving onto the ones with close to major cuts and burns, when Beckett rocketed passed her, worry and confusion plastered across his face.

"Dr. Weir!" he hollered. "Dr. Weir!"

Cam stood up, nodding to Peter Grodin to continue with the basic healing techniques the people of Earth had as she saw the leader of the Antarctic base come out of room where Elizabeth, Daniel, McKay and Jack were talking.

"We have Chair activation!" Beckett said, breathless before he turned around and hurried back to the Chair room.

Cam sighed as she followed, settling into an easy running pace to the Chair room where she saw a man where a flight suit, sitting in the now reclined Chair, looking shocked as he looked at them, not moving anything but his eyes.

Elizabeth stopped at the bottom of the dais. "Who is this?" she asked as Jack walked up onto the dais and looked down at the man.

"I said don't touch anything," he said simply.

"I-I just sat down," the man replied, stuttering slight; he was obviously worried.

"Major," McKay interjected before Jack could say anything scathing. "Think about where we are in the solar system."

Cam looked up towards the ceiling as a humming filled the air and a three dimensional map of a star system appeared above their heads. Cam smiled as the Major looked up in confusion as he frowned.

"Did I do that?" he asked.

Cam couldn't help but start laughing at his comment, knowing that Kel'an was also laughing.

**

* * *

**

Cam stood next to Elizabeth Weir in the Control room, holding her modified Jaffa Staff weapon, her Zat strapped to her leg with her side arm on her other leg as she wore her Tok'ra, all purpose dark coloured uniform, the others bundled into her bag, surrounding the Chulak fighting daggers to protect them, in the Gateroom. She moved slightly and looked at Elizabeth.

"I wanted to thank you again Dr. Weir for allowing me to come," she said.

"Please call me Elizabeth, Cam," the older woman told her. "And I can understand why you asked me. You don't have to thank me."

Cam nodded as Elizabeth went to the steps and moved into the Gateroom, moving to the ramp. Cam turned to look at Daniel and Jack who were looking at Elizabeth. They both turned to look at her as she moved over to them. Daniel was the first to pull her into a hug.

"Take care of my niece," he told her quietly as she hugged him back.

Cam nodded, trying to stop the tears that threatened to fall. "I promise teach'," she replied before she let go and looked at Jack who, too, pulled her into a hug. "I'll miss you both."

She felt Jack rest his chin on top of her head. "We'll miss you too kid," he said. "Though I think Carter's is gonna take the cake on that." He pulled back slightly and smiled at her. "You take care of my niece," he finished, echoing Daniel.

Cam smiled at that, even as she watched as Elizabeth walked out of the Gateroom, three chevrons already encoded and locked.

"I gotta go," she said before she disappeared down the stairs, skipping to the side slightly, allowing Elizabeth to walk passed her as she held her Staff weapon.

She moved into the Gate room quickly, stepping between everybody over to where she had left her bag. She frowned when she saw the form of her older brother standing next to it, wearing his own dark coloured Tok'ra uniform with a small bag thrown over his shoulder. He stood leaning against the modified Staff weapon she had created for him when he had returned from the Asgard close to two years ago.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him as she moved to his side and pulled her bag on, fastening the bag over her shoulder in the familiar Tok'ra fashion.

"_Chevron four encoded," _Walter, the Gate technician called out over the base's radio system into the Gateroom.

"**Both Martouf and myself wish to help you Cam," **Lantash spoke as he turned to look at her. **"The Tok'ra can send another Ambassador to replace us." **He smirked slightly. **"Especially since we are now considered Shol'va."**

Cam bit back as gasp as the Stargate locked the fourth chevron before the Gate spun once more, going to the next chevron. _"Chevron five encoded."_

She stepped to the side, allowing Kel'an to take control as she lowered her head. **"You leave the Tok'ra when you could have returned to them, brother," **she said when she had raised her head.

"**Garshaw understood our wishes and gave us her blessing, as did your father," **Lantash replied. **"We have made our decision and we wish to see it through to the end."**

Kel'an nodded, even as the seventh chevron encoded. **"I understand, brother," **she agreed. **"It would have been a lonely place without a familiar face."**

Lantash bowed his head, closing his eyes as he stepped aside, probably at Martouf's nudging. Kel'an followed his example and shifted, almost forcing Cam to the fore.

Cam quickly embraced Martouf. "I would have missed you," she told him quietly before they stepped apart and looked up at the Gate, hearing one thing: _"Chevron eight is locked."_

The Stargate activated then, the familiar kawoosh of energy arching from the event horizon, just above the M.A.L.P., Cam let out a whoop of joy before she let out a whistle while the others merely clapped. Everyone in the Gateroom watched as the M.A.L.P. started up the rest of the ramp from where it lay beneath where the event horizon had formed.

A few moments after the M.A.L.P. had gone through Cam sighed in relief as she heard the words she had been praying to hear. _"Colonel Sumner, you have a go to sweep the area," _she heard Jack say over the radio headsets.

Sumner started up the ramp, holding his P-90 ready as he tapped his radio of. "Let's go, people!" he called out. "We don't know how much time we've got." A few Marines started up after him as Cam and Martouf moved forwards slightly so that they were next to Sheppard and Ford. "Security teams one and two, you're up first. All other personnel will follow on our signal. Once on the other side, keep moving, clear the debarkation area. On my lead."

"Hold on, Colonel!" she heard Elizabeth call out as she walked into the Gateroom, zipping up her uniform jacket before she picked up her backpack at the foot of the ramp. She slipped it on quickly as she walked up to join Sumner. "We go through together."

Sumner seemed to look at her for a moment before he nodded, his face impassive. "Fair enough," he agreed.

He turned around and walked up to the top of the ramp with the three other Marines, before he raised his P-90, aimed it forwards and walked into the wormhole. Sergeant Bates and another Marine followed him, their weapons also raised. As another Marine entered the wormhole, Elizabeth stopped at the top of the ramp and looked back. After a moment she nodded before she turned around and stepped through the Gate.

Cam smiled at Martouf and nodded to Lieutenant Ford and Major Sheppard as she walked passed them, holding her Staff weapon at the ready.

"_Expedition team," _Jack called out over the radio. _"Move out."_

Cam turned to look at Jack and Daniel as they stood in the control room before she turned and stepped through the Stargate, her Staff weapon up and ready to fire. She kept her Staff weapon up as she stepped into the room on the other side of the Gate, taking in the appearance of the darkened room. Directly ahead of her was a short flight of thirteen steps that led up to another floor. Somewhere on that upper floor some lights came on.

Cam didn't need the lights to come on to tell her that there were balconies that overlooked what was now the Gateroom. Cam turned to look at the Gate, even as she backed up and away. The Stargate was more modern than the ones she had seen in the Milky Way; the symbols around the Gate were illuminated from within and the chevrons that showed the symbols from Earth were glowing green. She nodded politely at Sheppard as he stepped through after Ford had landed quite spectacularly on his behind before he picked himself up sheepishly and started to search the rest of the Gateroom. Martouf came in behind them, his Staff weapon raised in front of him as he moved to her side.

She started slightly when the stairs started lighting up after Sheppard had put his foot down on the bottom step, revealing the Ancient writing there.

"Who's doing that?" Elizabeth asked.

"Security teams: any alien contact?" Sumner asked into his radio.

"_Negative sir," _Cam heard the one Marine respond.

"_Team four," _another radioed in. _"Negative Colonel."_

Cam quickly moved up the steps, moving lightly on the balls of her feet, hearing the soft whisper of her Tok'ra boots moving slightly while she heard the slightly heavier footfall of Martouf. She stopped at the top of the stairs and looked to her right, seeing something that resembled a control room while on the left was an almost blank wall.

"Left or right?" she asked her brother as he stopped next to her.

"I would go left," he replied, nodding at the clear stretch of wall.

Cam moved easily over to the blank wall before she let Kel'an take control to start searching the wall after she had placed her Staff weapon in the hands of one of the Marines that had followed her. She placed her hands on the wall and started feeling around as Martouf joined her.

"I have found it," he called to her after a moment; Cam moved to his side and looked at the small console in the wall where several crystals lay. "Do you recognise these?"

Cam bit her lip for a moment, thinking as she felt Kel'an searching through their memories of the Ancient knowledge. _**Aha! **_Kel'an cried, sounding triumphant. _**Top crystal opens it, the middle locks and the bottom closes. Swipe your hand over the top one.**_

Cam nodded at her brother. "Yeah, Kel' found it," she replied. "She says to swipe or swing our hands over the top crystals to open it."

Martouf smiled and moved his right, free, hand over the top crystals and they watched as the wall split into seven even sections, revealing a large room behind them. Cam grabbed her Staff weapon from the hands of the Marine and raised it.

"Here we go," she muttered as Martouf stepped into the room first, checking for anything hostile while Cam stuck close to him, searching with him.

The Tok'ra lead their way deeper into the room, hearing the Marine's follow them with their P-90's raised, casting light out from the torches on the barrel of the gun. Lights came on the further in they went, revealing a large segmented table in a rough circular shape in the center of the room.

A few minutes later Cam and Martouf moved into the Control room having heard Elizabeth's orders to head back to the Gateroom.

"What are you talking about?" Cam asked as they noticed Doctor Beckett looking rather nervous off to the side as McKay started typing on his laptop like he had a very tight deadline which she supposed that he did.

"Please tell me this isn't my fault?" Beckett asked with a panicked look.

"No," McKay replied bluntly. "From what we've been able to ascertain, this city is powered by three Zero Point Modules. Two are entirely depleted, and the third is reaching maximum entropy. When it does, it'll die too, and nothing can reverse that."

"Just tell me the bottom line," Sumner told him.

"The force field holding back the ocean has collapsed to its minimum sustainable levels." He gestured to his screen but Cam had already seen the damage when she had walked in. "Look, you can see here and here." He gestured to two points of the snow-flake-styled city plan where they were glowing red while the rest of the city was a pale blue. "Where the shields have already failed and the city's flooded. It could've happened years ago. This section is likely more protected because of the Stargate."

"What if it fails completely?" Sheppard asked.

"It's a matter of when, not if," McKay countered.

"Colonel Sumner, you need to order your search teams to stop exploring the city immediately," Elizabeth ordered the man.

Sumner nodded. "All security teams fall back to the gate room immediately," he announced into his radio before he logged off.

"It's not going to be good enough," McKay pointed out.

"How much time _do_ we have?" Martouf asked not seeing _**any**_ point in all what's and if's.

"It's hard to say, maybe hours, maybe days if we minimize power expenditure," McKay told her directly.

"What about our own power generators?" Beckett asked.

"We're working on that, but even with our most advanced naquadah power generators, the equations are coming up far short." McKay sighed in frustration.

"So we need to locate Zee.P.M.'s?" Elizabeth asked him.

"Now how do we do that if we can't search the city?" Sumner asked.

Cam shook her head at the man. "We'd be able to see them on the sensors," she told him. "I haven't seen or found anything like them."

"Can we use the Stargate?" Sumner asked McKay, ignoring Cam.

Cam felt her anger bristling as Martouf laid a calming hand on her shoulder.

"There's nowhere near enough power to open a wormhole back to Earth," McKay replied before Cam could roll her eyes.

"How about somewhere in this galaxy?" Martouf asked him.

McKay smiled at that. "That's relatively easy," he admitted as he led them over to the console that looked almost like a D.H.D. where Peter Grodin was working. "Fortunately, some Ancient technology still uses good old-fashioned push buttons, so we've been able to access the Stargate control system and a library of known gate addresses in the database."

"That's not all, look at this." Grodin pushed a button and out in the gate room a yellow shield came to life over the Stargate.

"Using power," McKay muttered quietly but rather pointedly. "Using power. Using power." Knowing McKay, Cam would have grinned if the situation wasn't so dire. Grodin turned it off again with a sheepish look.

"Well, at least we don't have to deal with any uninvited guests," Elizabeth commented before she looked at Sumner. "Colonel, assemble a team. We need safe harbour, or better still, another power source." It was more of an order than anything else.

He nodded at her. "Lieutenant Ford, gather security teams one and two. Everyone gear up," he ordered through the radio and Cam watched out of the window as everyone came to life. The Colonel turned and left the room heading for the Stargate.

"Major, I'd like you to go along," Elizabeth requested more than ordered.

* * *

While the Marines stood guard around the Gateroom, Cam stood at the foot of the stairs, quickly noting down the Ancient language so she could translate it later. Martouf sat on one of the steps she had already noted the writing down of, watching her. The two lights that stood on pedestals next to the stairs gave her more than enough light to work with as her hand moved furiously over the datapad she held in her arm.

Cam looked up when she heard the Gate dialling. Both she and Martouf looked to the Control room, only to see the technicians looking at her. This was the first time the Gate had dialled and Elizabeth wasn't in sight and Cam sighed, placing her data-pad down on the flat plane where one of the pedestals stood and stepped away from the Gate, wanting to be away from the wormhole arch when the Gate connected. Martouf stepped next to her, tapping his own radio headset to listen.

"_Atlantis base, please come in," _she heard the man on the other end speak and Cam recognised the voice to belonging to Lieutenant Ford as she tapped the microphone at her cheek.

"Lieutenant Ford, this is Tok'ra host Cam," she replied. "Dr. Weir is currently unavailable. Do you have anything to report?"

"_Tok'ra Carter," _Ford acknowledged. _"Colonel Sumner and the rest have met a large group of indigenous people and have been invited back to their camp."_

Cam nodded, allowing Kel'an to absorb the information. "Their camp Lieutenant?" she asked. "Do you have any idea of their technological level?"

"_No idea ma'am. We didn't see any weapons or technology but they seem to be less advanced."_

Cam smiled, remembering how the Tok'ra looked to other races as often mythological like the Asgard or poor and extremely less advanced people like the people of PXY-887 with the Native American tribes. "I understand," she said. "Keep us updated Lieutenant Ford. Tok'ra Carter out." The Stargate shut down in retort and Cam sighed before she tapped her microphone again. "Dr. Weir? Just had a report from Lieutenant Ford. Colonel Sumner and his men have met indigenous people and been invited back to their camp."

"_Thank you Cam," _she herd Elizabeth reply. _"Keep me updated of anymore information."_

"Understood ma'am," Cam told her before she shut down and picked up her data-pad from the flat plane beneath the pedestal.

**

* * *

**

THIRTEEN HOURS LATER

Cam walked into the room McKay had told her about where you could see part of the city that lay underwater. She saw Grodin leaning against the decorative stone around the large window. She walked over until she stood at the other window right next to him and looked out at the city.

"Wow," she commented at the sight before she saw Elizabeth walking over, devoid of her jacket uniform, revealing the red shirt she wore underneath. "Elizabeth."

The other woman nodded at her as she looked at Grodin. "Here it comes," the British scientist said as he quickly consulted his PDA.

"What are we looking for?" Elizabeth asked.

Cam started when she heard a muted rumble before a flash of green light followed. "There!" Grodin said as a large column of air rushed up through the water, heading towards the surface of the water. "Another part of the forcefield just failed." Grodin shook his head. "I don't think we have much time."

* * *

Cam shook her own head in dismay, seeing that same emotion mirrored on Elizabeth's face.

"_Attention all personnel," _Elizabeth's voice rang through the entire expedition's headset's. _"This is Weir." _Cam looked up from the datapad she was holding as she sat on the steps in front of the Gate as then entire base started to shake. _"Stand by for immediate evacuation."_

Martouf sat next to her as they looked towards the Gate. They saw the Stargate dialling out before it began to dial in. They stood up, reaching for their Staff weapons that had lain forgotten at their feet before they activated it, pointing at the now shielded event horizon as one. Cam waited for a moment, sensing the other Marines that had been put on Gate guard duty raising their firearms and pointing them as well at the Gate before the shield fell and Sheppard charged through, leading a large group of people in behind him. Cam lowered her Staff weapon and swung it onto her back, feeling it slide easily into the specially made sheath on her back before she nodded to the Marines, feeling Martouf doing the same.

"Lower your weapons!" she ordered them as Sheppard motioned to the people that had stepped through with him.

"Step in folks," she heard him speaking. "Move away from the puddle."

Cam moved out of Elizabeth's path as she came down the stairs while the people moved and stepped forwards slightly, allowing the others that were coming through the Gate to move forwards as well.

"Major Sheppard?" Elizabeth asked as the last of the people came through with Ford and the rest of the Marines at the back before the Gate shut down.

Cam quickly balanced herself as the base shook again. "Major? Who are all these people?" she asked as she made her way down the last of the steps.

"Survivors from the settlement," Sheppard replied. "We were attacked. Sumner and some of our men were taken." He paused as he seemed to finally notice how much the base was shaking. "What's going on?"

"We are in no condition to help anyone right now," Elizabeth told him as she fought for her balance.

"What the hell's going on here?"

"We are about to abandon the city."

Sheppard pointed over her shoulder at the Gate. "Going back there is a _really _bad idea!"

"Major Sheppard, the shield is about to fail and the ocean is about to come crashing in on us!" Elizabeth snapped at him. "Do you have a better place for us to go?"

Sheppard paused and turned to the villagers. "Jinto, do you have any other address we could Gate to?"

A young boy of maybe eleven stood near his people, wearing dark coloured leather as he looked out at what he could see of the Gateroom in awe before he looked at Sheppard and nodded. "Yes," he replied. "Many."

Sheppard smiled slightly and grabbed his arm and began to hurry him towards the stairs that led to the Control Room. "He's just a boy!" Elizabeth stated.

Cam growled, hearing the accusation of a young boy being unable to know anything at his age clearly in the older woman's voice. "Remember Elizabeth how old I was when I started my part in the war against the Goa'uld!" she told her. "I was much younger than the boy and I have fought for nearly twice as long."

"I am Jinto," the boy said as he was hustled pasted Elizabeth and towards Cam.

"She's pleased to meet you," Sheppard muttered as they started to climb the stairs.

Cam looked up at the balcony that was connected to the Control Room as she heard McKay rush to the edge. "The shield's collapsing!" she heard him shout over the noise of the rumbling.

There was a flash of light and Cam barely managed keep her balance as the entire base jolted, sending everyone but Martouf to the floor. "I'm dialling an address!" Grodin hollered over the noise as the rumbling grew impossibly louder.

"No, wait!" Elizabeth hollered back at him.

Cam didn't hear McKay agreeing with her as she let Kel'an take control. Kel'an quickly balanced herself against Lantash who had decided that leaning against each other would help while Sheppard carefully cradled Jinto close to him, protecting him from the sharp edges of the stairs while Elizabeth and the others just stayed where they were on the floor, gripping onto anything they could get their hands on in an attempt to still their own shaking.

"We're moving!" Sheppard hollered as all the lights went off, leaving them in the dark.

Kel'an could only agree as she continued to stand up before she looked at the windows at the top of the stairs and saw a bright light appear the top windows as the central tower of the city burst through the surface and Kel'an fought not to fall to her knees as a lurch sent the others that had been trying to stand, falling to the ground. Kel'an braced herself against the sudden increased velocity as the city, no longer held down by the water began to climb up into the air. Kel'an thanked whatever higher power there was that she herself was used to the hyperdrive of the Goa'uld vessels or she would have sent Cam to her knees.

The Tok'ra bent their knees slightly as the base shook once more before it all stopped and the lights came back on. Elizabeth stood up with several others and moved to the nearest window that stood at the top of the stairs and Kel'an joined them as Sheppard helped Jinto up and moved to the window. Lantash stood next to Kel'an as they stared out at the sight of the open ocean around the city.

"We're on the surface," Ford stated in awe.

"I was hoping for another day," Elizabeth said quietly. "Looks like we just got a whole more than that." She smiled. "Let's not waste it."

* * *

Cam stood on the floor at the bottom of the stairs in the Gateroom little over an hour later as she picked up one of the heavier medical equipment boxes.

"People listen up!" she heard Ford holler. "No one gets to sit down until they've cleared two pieces of equipment off this deck. Now let's go!" She smiled when she saw him look at her and saw his jaw drop.

"Where does this go?" she asked him.

Ford nodded to the open doors at the end of the hallway. "In the Infirmary." He told her. "Put it inside the door."

Cam nodded as she easily hefted the large box onto her right shoulder and started towards the room, moving down the short ramp and into the room after a few strides. While she doubted the room had originally been designed to be an infirmary, but it looked like it would suit it. She nodded and returned to the Gateroom to pick up another large box.

* * *

Cam looked at the large lozenge-like ships that were 'parked' in the room at the top of the tower; McKay had asked her to come to the room a few minutes ago over the radio in a short burst of Goa'uld. The designs were similar to something she had come across in the library in her mind.

_Do you remember these? _Cam asked Kel'an.

_**I remember the Ancient name for them, **_Kel'an replied. _**It's –**_

_Alright! _Cam said, interrupting her. _I remember as well. Think we can pilot them?_

_**I'd give it a go kid.**_

Cam smiled and started to move before she heard the doors open. She forced herself to stop and turned to see McKay leading Sheppard inside.

"This way," McKay told her as he led them both to a ship.

Cam walked behind Sheppard but in front of McKay and watched as the once dark ship switched the lights on the further they went inside. There were four seats in the front portion of the ship while the back portion was styled like an ordered reception. The four seats in the front were split in two with two in the front, one in front of what appeared to be a pilot's seat with a co-pilot seat next to it; the back two were on either side of the gap between the two portions. Sheppard touched the panel and smiled as it lit up.

"Think you can fly it?" McKay asked Sheppard.

"What do you say we find out?" he asked as he sat down in the left seat, continuing to smile.

Cam shrugged. "I think so," she said. "Give me a moment to get to another one."

She moved out of the ship and climbed the inbuilt ladder to the ship above. She moved easily into it and sat in the chair, feeling everything hum to life and the ramp at the back shut. She smiled as she saw McKay standing by the doors while Sheppard pulled the ship out from where it had been stored. She followed his lead and carefully brought it beside the other ship with no trouble, after she had descended down from where her own ship had been stored.

McKay smiled and disappeared out the door. Cam suddenly wished she could talk to Sheppard in the ship next to her.

"_I know several pilots that would kill for this kind of thing," _Sheppard muttered. _"It's every pilot's dream!"_

"I hear ya Sheppard," she agreed in understanding, having piloted one of the F-302's when they had first been built and test flew after O'Neill and Teal'c had been rescued.

She heard a curse echo from his ship. _"What the –?"_

"I'm in your comm. system," she told him. "We can speak to each other without anyone else hearing."

"_It sounds cool." _There was a pause and Cam watched as Sheppard's ship disappeared with a slight ripple in the air before it settled, hiding him from view.

"How'd you do that?"

"_I just thought it," _he told her, sounding a bit surprised.

Cam raised an eyebrow before she shrugged. _Can't hurt, _she thought.

_**Not really, **_Kel'an agreed and Cam rolled her eyes.

* * *

Elizabeth frowned as Rodney almost literally dragged her into the room at the top of the tower; she could hear a humming sound and it was beginning to annoy her, even though she had been in the room for a few moments.

"What is that noise?" she asked as she looked around, trying to pinpoint it while she took in the sight of the large lozenge-shaped ships in levels of three around the large room.

"I don't know," Rodney answered, clearly confused. "They were right here." He frowned. "Major! Cam!"

Elizabeth paused, about to join him, when she saw a rippling in the air in front of them and two of the lozenge-shaped ships appeared. The two ships floated in the air, around three feet above the floor, with Sheppard at the controls of one and Cam at the other. Sheppard merely smiled at them while Cam raised a hand and waved.

"_You said you want a tactical advantage?" _Sheppard asked, his voice echoing in the large room as his voice was put through what had to be in-built speakers.

Elizabeth gazed in amazement at the two ships. "Alright," she replied. "So you can fly that thing. It doesn't mean you can pull off a rescue."

"_Dr., this is why you brought me here."_

* * *

Cam smiled as she sat herself back down in the ship's pilot seat while Martouf sat himself down next to her, placing his modified Staff weapon beside him. Cam looked over her shoulder, seeing her own standing by the still open hatch between the two compartments. In the back portion several Marines were making themselves comfortable.

"_Jumper 2, this is Jumper 1," _Sheppard's voice echoed on the inbuilt, internal speakers. _"You ready?"_

Cam shrugged off the name change. She had thought that the little ships were called 'Gateships'. "Jumper 1, this is Jumper 2," she replied. "I thought we were going with Gateships?"

"_Not with Ford and McKay naming things," _Sheppard told her and Cam heard Ford grumbling quietly in the background. _"You ready?" _he repeated.

"Jumper 2 is clear for take-off," she answered. "Waiting for a 'go'."

"_Puddle Jumpers 1 and 2, you are clear for launch," _McKay told them over a separate comm. system.

Cam nodded at Martouf, smiling. "Ready?" she asked him as Sheppard started moving his Jumper out of his bay.

Martouf nodded back as the floor in the middle of the bay irised open and Sheppard's Jumper gently floated down into the Gateroom below. Cam smiled and – after a few moments – followed after Sheppard down into the Gateroom, lining the Jumper up with the Stargate.

"Are you forgetting something Elizabeth?" Cam asked.

There was an answering chuckle. _"Godspeed Cam," _she replied. _"Pass it on to Sheppard."_

"Will do ma'am," she said before she directed the Jumper through the Gate, seeing Sheppard floating a mile away clearly visible to her before he disappeared with a quick ripple.

Cam smirked as she followed suit and followed the signal that Sheppard was broadcasting on their radio frequency for her. The Jumpers moved easily and quickly through the atmosphere before Cam set the Jumper to hover next to Sheppard's in a large clearing of pine trees. A huge structure loomed in the distance covered almost completely in trees growing on top. Cam nodded at Martouf as she gently landed the Jumper, de-cloaking as she did so.

"That was a well done piece of piloting Cam," Martouf complimented her before he stood up, picking up his Staff weapon.

The bulkhead doors opened, revealing the other Marines that sat inside while the ramp at the back of Jumper lowered, allowing them all to get out and check the immediate area. Cam checked the Jumper for one moment before she stood up and left the Jumper, grabbing her weapon as she stepped out. She nodded at Sheppard when she saw him.

"Alright, teams of two," he ordered the Marines. "Learn what you can, lay down defences as you see fit. I want to be able to light this place up if we have to." He nodded to one of the other Marines. "Two clicks, you're clear to talk."

"Yes, sir," the Marine replied.

"Do not engage the enemy." He looked at both Ford and Cam. "You're with me."

Cam nodded again as she followed him, glancing over her shoulder at Martouf before she continued.

* * *

Cam ignored the flesh-like architecture as she crouched down in the vent entrance, her Staff weapon clipped to her back while a small duffle bag hung over her shoulder as she looked out. A guard wearing a face mask walked passed her hiding spot as she flinched automatically into the darkness, waiting until it had passed before she stood up and moved away, allowing Sheppard and Ford to come in behind her.

"I thought getting in was going to be the hard part," Sheppard commented quietly,

"That's the first one we've seen," Ford put in as he attached a small block of C4 to the wall where Cam had knelt behind.

Cam looked around the corner, keeping an eye out. "It is usually a lot harder to get into alien buildings than this."

Sheppard nodded as he pulled out a small device he had shown her earlier on their quick jog to the building. He looked down at the screen on the device.

"Little dot moving should be him," he said. "Go over there." He looked at Ford pointedly who moved backwards slightly, away from them. Sheppard nodded and Ford returned. "Yeah, that's you." He looked up at Cam and looked towards the other pillar of the flesh-like substance a yard in front of them

Cam smiled and swung her Staff weapon off of her back as she moved to the pillar. She looked over her shoulder at Ford and smirked when he smiled.

"We got ourselves a life signs detector," he said, still grinning.

Sheppard glanced at him. "We can name it later," he told the Marine before he nodded at Cam. "That way."

Cam nodded and walked down the corridor, keeping an ear open for more of the guards. By the time that Sheppard had directed them to the cell where their men were, Cam was at the back, keeping an eye out for any Wraith guards walking their way.

"Major?" a feminine voice asked, startling Cam.

"Shh!" Sheppard told her before they moved in front of the spider web-like doors of the cell. "Are you alright?"

"How did you find us?" the woman asked.

"Is my son alive?" the man next to her asked as Cam turned to face them.

"He's well and waiting for you," Sheppard told him.

Cam quickly scanned the cell, seeing many of the Athosians, seeing their clothing as well as the camouflage clothes of her fellow Earth men. "You know where Colonel Sumner is?" she asked as she easily clipped her Staff weapon to her back.

"He was taken by the Wraith," Bates replied.

"Well, how about when?" Sheppard asked.

"Not long," the woman told him.

Sheppard seemed to groan. "I knew something had to go wrong," he muttered before he clicked his radio twice.

"_This is Stackhouse, go ahead sir," _Stackhouse replied.

"How about a diversion in a little bit?" Sheppard asked him. "You really need to make some noise out there."

"_Yes sir," _Stackhouse replied and Cam thought she could hear him smiling.

Sheppard looked at Ford and Cam. "Ready the C4," he told them. "Blow a hole and get these people out of here on my signal, alright?" Cam nodded as Sheppard handed Ford his pack of C4. "I can find the Colonel with this." He looked at the scanner. "There aren't many Wraith around. I should be able to do this. If I'm not back in twenty minutes, blow the cells and get out."

"You're one of the only people who can fly these people outta here," Ford told him as Cam nodded in agreement.

"I can pilot only one ship, Major," she said. "I can't do both. I don't know enough about them."

"We'll fly us all out of here, including the Colonel," Sheppard told them.

Cam nodded, understanding and gestured to Ford to stop. "You have twenty minutes Major," she told him. "Find him."

Sheppard smirked slightly at her before he moved off, looking at the scanner while he kept his P-90 raised. She opened the duffle bag and both she and Ford started handing the small bricks of C4 through the bars to the Marines that had moved forwards to the doors in the cave. The man that had been standing next to the woman Sheppard had talked to looked at her curiously.

"How it my son?" he asked her.

Cam nodded. "He's unharmed," she told him truthfully, remembering Jinto as he had looked around the Gateroom, frightened. "He's merely worried about you."

Before they could say anything Cam's head shot up as a pained scream echoed around them. "Sheppard?" Ford asked her.

Cam shook her head. _**That sounded too old to be Sheppard, **_Kel'an commented, waking up. _**Anyone else missing?**_

"Colonel Sumner," Cam muttered, answering both Ford's question and Kel'an's.

Ford nodded. "I'm goin' to help," he told her as she stood up out of his crouch. "I'll be back."

Cam nodded and watched as he followed the foot prints that Sheppard had left behind in the dust. She closed her eyes, feeling exhaustion roll through her as she lowered her head, allowing Kel'an to take control.

Kel'an looked up and, opening her eyes, looked at Bates who was carefully attaching the C4 around the door. **"You nearly finished Bates?" **she asked.

Bates nodded as he pulled his hands away from the last block of C4. "Just have to wait for the call Kel'," he told her.

Kel'an smiled at him as she stood up and pulled her Staff weapon off of her back. **"That's good to hear," **she admitted as she leaned against her Staff weapon, taking the pressure off of her knees.

She frowned when she heard a short burst of gunfire before the radio Ford had left behind crackled slightly. _"Light it up!" _Sheppard's voice echoed.

"Cover!" Bates' shout echoed as Kel'an made a dash around the corner before the cell door blew.

After a moment Kel'an returned to the cell at a run, forcing her Staff weapon into the clasp. She smiled when she saw the hole in the cell door.

She gestured for the others to come out. **"Hurry!" **she called to them. **"Hurry." **Kel'an started moving through the complex, leading the others through and back toward the hole Sheppard had found to get them inside. **"Down here!"**

The Athosians nodded as they climbed down quickly, making room for the others that were at the end. Kel'an smirked when she saw Ford and Sheppard before she frowned.

"**Where's Sumner?"**

"He's dead," Sheppard told her tersely before he descended down the hole after Ford.

Kel'an nodded as she followed him. **"We need to split into two groups!" **she told Sheppard as they started running back to the Jumpers. **"There are too many people for one Jumper to take them safely."**

Sheppard nodded once more at her. "When we get to the ships, split into two groups!" he hollered over his shoulder. "It'll be easier for us!"

Ford nodded as he ran next to them, holding onto his P-90 even though it was clipped to the front of his tactical vest. "Understood sir!"

Sheppard looked at him. "Lieutenant, take our six!" Sheppard ordered him. "I'm going to make sure that everyone gets back to the Jumpers."

"Be right behind you," Ford agreed as he hung back, slowing his pace, and allowing the others to get in front of him.

Kel'an smiled at Sheppard, picking her pace up slightly. **"See you at the Jumpers Major," **she told him before she picked her pace up even further and ran easily into the clearing, slowing down slightly when she saw Stackhouse, his men and Martouf watching her.

Kel'an bowed her head, hearing Sheppard panting with the others as he raced into the clearing. She stepped to the side of their mind, feeling Cam take the fore.

"Get in!" she hollered at them before she started running, ignoring the pain in her legs as she ran up the open ramp and into the front cab, throwing herself into the pilot seat, feeling the Ancient machinery making themselves available to her as she heard several people running inside.

She activated the radio link between the two Jumpers and heard Sheppard muttering something about the Jumper reading his mind. She watched as Sheppard lifted his Jumper off of the ground, cloaking as he went. Cam followed his lead quickly as Martouf stood next to her, not sitting down.

"Major Sheppard, I believe we are going to have to deal with the little ships you described," Martouf said, tapping his radio on. "I have a bad feeling about them."

"_Don't start killing the buzz until you've felt it kid,"_ Sheppard replied and Martouf raised an eyebrow at Cam. _"Oh crap!"_

Cam looked out of her front window and groaned when she saw several, fighter sized Wraith ships around the Gate. _**Oh crap! **_Kel'an echoed Sheppard.

"Is there nothing we can do?" Cam heard the man from the Wraith cell ask her as she came into the front cabin. "I am Halling."

"Camilla."

Martouf smiled and nodded at the man, moving aside for him to sit down. "I am Martouf," he told him. "I don't think this has any type of weapons."

"Short of them deciding to leave, we can't do anything," Cam added sourly.

"_The minute we activate the Stargate, they can start firing blind on us, and blow us away on our approach," _Sheppard spoke up over the radio.

"How the hell then, do we get through?" Cam asked as she leaned back in her chair and rubbed her face.

"_We should draw them away from the Gate," _Sheppard said and Cam could almost see the look of a crazy plan on his face; all her years on SG-1 had ingrained the crazy-plan-look on her memory forever. _"We double back after that."_

Cam groaned. "If you've been taking lessons from General O'Neill, I'll hurt you Major," she said ominously. "This plan is probably as crazy as Jack deciding to bring Apophis back to Earth when he was dying." She sighed, grabbing hold of the controls as she nodded for Halling to sit in the empty co-pilot's seat while Martouf sat in the seat behind Cam. "I'll take the first pass Sheppard. Be ready."

She de-activated the cloak and soared passed the Gate, drawing upon Kel'an's dusty memories of evading Goa'uld forces, using them to their fullest as she barrel-rolled her Jumper, twisted and swung the ship like it was nothing more than a child's toy. Cam smiled when she heard Martouf muttering under his breath in Goa'uld. She looked up at the screen, calling up the H.U.D. that told her several of the fighters had followed her, as had Sheppard with his own escort of fighters. She grunted slightly as her ship was jarred slightly when a fighter fired on her.

"_You see anything like a weapons console on your Jumper?" _Ford asked her.

Cam frowned, thinking of weapons before she felt the Jumper answering her thoughts. She sensed the Jumper widening slightly before two yellow drones like the ones from the Antarctic base, soared in front of the Jumper and doubled back, over the top of the Jumper. Cam looked back at the H.U.D. and saw that several of the fighters had been destroyed as Sheppard shot off his own drones.

"I think I just did," she replied.

"_Can you go invisible?" _Sheppard asked her. _"Ours is damaged from a hit."_

Cam waited a moment, trying to activate it before she shook her head. "No luck here Sheppard," she replied. "I suggest you start dialling."

She slowed slightly, bringing her Jumper beside Sheppard's as they turned around and headed back towards the Gate. Two Wraith fighters were still there, guarding the now active Gate.

"_Get ready to punch in your code on the next pass!" _Sheppard's voice echoed as he spoke to Ford.

There was a rustling sound. _"What's the range on these things?" _he asked absently.

Cam smiled, activating two of her drones that streaked towards one of the Wraith ships. "The range is close to several hundred light years, Lieutenant," she replied before she swore again, her scanners having picked up three more Wraith fighters. "I'd suggest hauling it through the Gate Sheppard."

Cam didn't hear a reply as Sheppard cut off their radio connection and streaked towards the unattended Gate. She followed after him, giving him close to a mile in front of her so he could get into the Gateroom on the other side without having to worry about hitting the back of his Jumper. She saw Halling look at her oddly when she growled as she forced her Jumper to go into a full barrel roll as the Wraith fired on her. She winced when she saw the shots rocket passed her Jumper, passed Sheppard's and into the Gate.

"We are going too fast," Halling idly commented to her as he held on tightly to his seat while Sheppard rocketed into the Gate.

Cam gritted her teeth in response as she lined the Jumper up with the Stargate. "I know," she told him. "This is going to be like threading the needle."

She smiled just before the Jumper shot through the Gate. She nearly cursed when they reappeared on the other side, the Jumper coming to a complete stop on the other side, just before the stairs. Cam sighed as she leaned back slightly in her seat, realising how strong the inertial dampeners were when she had seen nobody crashing through the windscreen.

She opened the hatch between the front and back cabs and turned to look at the people inside the back compartment; several Marines sat with a few Athosians.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she began as she let the Jumper go to autopilot into the Jumper bay. "Welcome to Atlantis. Please make sure that your chairs are in their correct, upright, positions. Please stay seated until the Puddle Jumper has landed."

She gave a weak laugh as she relaxed further into her chair, feeling it lean back slightly as the Marines chuckled slightly while the Jumper landed smoothly onto the floor of the Jumper bay.

_**Good flyin' kid, **_Kel'an commented with her own weak chuckle. _**Jack would be proud.**_

Cam smiled as the back hatch lowered, forming a ramp for everyone to walk down into the bay itself. _I know, _she agreed. _I think we're both coming down from a very high adrenaline rush._

_**Who wouldn't?**_

**

* * *

**

ATLANTIS, NIGHT TIME, COMMISSARY

Cam leaned against the railing of the balcony attached to the commissary. They had moved the majority of the tables – after having removed them from the floor – into the back of the commissary, near the kitchen. Cam stood on a railed overhang alone, looking out on the city that spanned out beneath her.

_**It's a good sight, **_Kel'an commented.

Cam chuckled. _You know, I was thinking of getting a place with an ocean view, _she replied.

Kel'an chuckled as well. _**A bit out of the way, **_she responded.

Cam smiled as she lowered her head for a moment.

"Cam?"

Her head shot up at the sudden introduction of the voice. She turned slightly, lifting her body off of the railing. She relaxed when she only saw Elizabeth standing there, holding onto four steel mugs.

"Elizabeth," she greeted the woman. "It's good to see you."

The expedition's leader smiled at her and held one hand out, holding two mugs. "Cam," she replied. "I thought the occasion merited opening this. Take one." Cam smiled as she took the closer one, being careful to support the other one Elizabeth held until the older woman took it back. "Compliment's of General O'Neill."

The Tok'ra chuckled. "Typical Jack," she said before she raised her steel mug. "Cheers."

Elizabeth merely nodded at her. "I'm going to talk to Major Sheppard and Lieutenant Ford," she said. "I hope you don't mind."

Cam laughed, nodding. "Go ahead ma'am," she said, nodding towards where Ford was gesturing at the city or the ocean – it was hard to tell when the man was close to ten yards away with several Athosians in the way – while Sheppard merely looked out.

She tightened her grip on the mug as she took a sip when Elizabeth had left. She looked out over the city, taking in the soaring buildings that seemed to exude Ancient technology at her, even as her mind instinctively started to access basic knowledge for the place.

"May I ask about the joke?" Martouf asked her as he stood on her left, holding his own metal mug.

Cam smiled and nodded. "Kel'an and I were joking with each other about the view," she supplied for him.

Martouf raised an eyebrow at her and chuckled, knowing how a symbiote's sense of humour was.

"Camilla Carter?" another voice asked from next to her.

Cam, instead of jumping, turned around slightly and nodded at the female Athosian that she had helped rescue hours before. "Yes?" she replied.

"I am Teyla Emmagan," the woman introduced herself. "You helped save my people and I."

Cam nodded even as she stood up. "Yes," she agreed. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Teyla smiled at her and it didn't look forced to Cam. "I have heard amoung your own men that you are not one of them?" she asked.

Cam smiled at her, understanding. "I'm not, really," she responded. "I'm a host to a friend of mine. I protect her, and in return she gives me a long and healthy life."

"You are not human?"

Cam laughed. "I'm human yes," she disagreed. "I'm just a different type of person." She thought for a moment. "It is like the difference between you and Halling. You are both from the same race of people, the Athosians, but you look different. It's like that for my people from where we are from."

Teyla nodded after a moment, understanding. "You call yourselves the Tok'ra?"

Cam smiled, feeling a friendship forming as she began to answer the slightly older woman's questions.

* * *

"_Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer." Ed Cunningham_

"_Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe." Anatole France_

* * *

What did you think? Let me know. I like constructive criticisms about my work and for those that don't have an account, feel free to comment, just let me know what you think. Within reason of course.


	3. Chapter 2: Hide and Seek Gone Wrong

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Cam, Kel'an and maybe the little plot twists I've put in here!

I would like to thank _Fluffy's minion _for being my beta. Without her, none of this would be here without her help. Thanks are due to _Fluffy's minion _for without her, there would be a lot more errors and the like. I may have written this, but it is _Fluffy's minion _who has done a lot of work with me. Thank _Fluffy's minion_.

***I bow at her feet in thanks and gratitude***

Please enjoy and turthfully let me know what you think.

* * *

**_(CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS CHAPTER)_**

_Jacob looked at O'Neill and smirked slightly. "Selmak says," he paused. "Let me see if I can translate this: 'Don't call us, we'll call you."_

_Cam groaned, although she knew that O'Neill was smiling before the three older Tok'ra walked up the ramp and stepped through the Gate. Cam sighed before she looked at Sam who looked at her._

"_What now?" she asked._

_Sam smiled lightly and nodded to the others that stood by O'Neill. "These are Daniel and Teal'c," she introduced. "They're good friends."_

_Cam stiffened at the mention of the Egyptian style name and her eyes fixed on the golden emblem on the dark skinned man's forehead. She took a step back, panicking slightly as Kel'an's strength surged through her body, readying her for a possible fight._

"_You are of the Apophis sect!" she said. "Jaffa!"_

_Teal'c seemed to smile slightly at her as did Sam. "He's a friend," she said._

"_I am allied with the people of the Tau'ri," Teal'c told her. "Against Apophis."_

_Cam looked between Sam and Teal'c before she nodded, feeling Kel'an carefully purging her system of her extra strength. "I apologise Teal'c," she admitted. "I have some of Kel'an previous host's worst memories about Apophis." She shuddered._

_Teal'c merely smiled at her as he nodded once at her. "Many atrocities have been committed by Apophis and the rest of the System Lords," he agreed._

_**

* * *

**_

1 MONTH LATER

_Cam easily stepped through the Stargate behind Teal'c, carrying a holstered berretta at her right hip. The room they stepped into was a small, empty room with grey walls. Cam looked around the room as she moved to the edge of it and tapped the walls carefully._

There aren't any exits,_ Cam commented to Kel'an. _Not that I can find anything.

**Maybe the race that lives here have no need of physical exits,**_Kel'an replied._

"_Hello!" Daniel shouted, lifting his head to try and face the ceiling that loomed high overhead. Cam started, jumping in fright before settling back down, leaning against the wall she had tapped against. "Hello! I'm Daniel Jackson; we're peaceful explorers from the planet Earth!" His voice echoed as he looked back down and at Jack who seemed to be looking at him almost as if he were mad. "It was worth a try."_

"_Daniel, how long you figure we oughta hang out here and scratch our cosmic head?" Jack asked him, cocking his head slightly to look at the linguist._

_Daniel shrugged. "Well, we can't just give up," he responded._

_Jack shrugged back at him. "Why not?" he asked. "Let's go home."_

_Cam watched as he walked through the circle of alien writing in the middle of the floor that before he had carefully stepped around. There was a loud humming as the large wall opposite the Gate shimmered and a large, circular alien device appeared, mounted on the wall._

"_Okay, that's something," Jack said, smiling slightly._

_Cam nodded as she stood up from where she had been leaning and followed as Teal'c walked up to it._

"_Watch yourself there Teal'c," Jack warned before Teal'c put his face into the only part where Cam thought he could see something._

"_What do you see?" Daniel asked._

"_Blackness," Teal'c reported. "Filled with coloured lights."_

_Teal'c stepped away when Jack tapped him on the shoulder. Jack took his position in front of the device, removing the green baseball cap he had been wearing. After a moment it changed shape, extending about a foot forwards, causing Jack to take a step back in surprise._

"_Whoa!" he commented before the device morphed again, seeming to grab Jack's head and force him to look into it as he scrabbled with it, trying to force it to let go._

_After a moment it let go of him and Cam watched as Jack fell to the floor, unmoving except for the gentle fall and rise of his chest as he breathed slowly. Cam frowned, thinking as Sam and Daniel rushed forwards to check on him, leaving both Cam and Teal'c to stand in the background, unsure of what to do._

It didn't respond when Teal'c was in front of it,_ she commented._

**He's a Jaffa, Cam,**_Kel'an commented._

Jack's human like me,_ she continued before she nodded while Daniel raced to the D.H.D. and started dialling Earth._

_Cam carefully moved around Jack as Sam helped him up. She took a deep breath before she stepped in front of the device._

"_Cam! What are–?" Sam asked her, shock in her voice before the device reacted._

_Before Cam could move, the device had extended a foot, lengthening the body before it grabbed her head, forcing her to look into the bright lights. She easily reached up and struggled with the grip of the device at the back of her head, feeling Teal'c and Sam trying to do the same before she heard a loud buzzing in her ears and a pain tore through her brain. After one more moment the device let go of her and Cam peddled back away from the thing, gripping at her head in pain._

Do something Kel'! Please!

**Working on it! **_Kel'an replied to her frantic mental pleas._

_Cam slumped into the grip of whoever held her then, her body too weak to hold her up. "I have her Captain Carter," she heard Teal'c say before she was literally swept off of her feet. "Take care of Colonel O'Neill."_

_Cam groaned as the pain that had torn through her brain settled into a dull throb. _Thanks,_ she whispered to Kel'an, feeling her symbiote replying through the residua pain that was still there._

"_Are you well Cam Carter?" Teal'c asked her as he walked up the small flight of steps to the now active Stargate._

"_My head's sore," she said quietly before Teal'c stepped through the Gate. "Feels like I've got a battalion of Death Gliders firing on my brain."_

_

* * *

_

Cam sat on a spare stool in Daniel's office on the base, slowly translating a piece inscription of Goa'uld. She had copied the language down onto a piece of paper an hour ago and now sat, translating the language into English, one word at a time. She started when the door slammed open next to Daniel who was still trying to translate the alien language in the circle from the planet.

"_Alright!" Jack stated. "What the hell is going on with me?"_

_Cam frowned. "What do you mean?" Daniel asked him._

"_Well, apparently, I have lost the _falatus _to speak properly," he said before horror dawned on his face for a moment as Teal'c looked at him, raising an eyebrow in response. "That wasn't a joke; I didn't do that on purpose!"_

"_Several times now Colonel has used strange words in place of common terms," Teal'c said_

_Daniel nodded. "Okay," he replied. "Well, what was that word you just used?"_

"Falatus," _Cam supplied._

_Daniel nodded as he stood up and moved to one of the four large bookcases in his office and picked up one of the larger ones. "Okay, sounds kinda close to Medieval Latin," he said as he placed the book down. "So possible a derivation, maybe even a root." He opened the book and flicked through it quickly before he nodded. "_Faculatus_ is Latin for ability; you said you've 'lost the_ falatus_ to speak properly'."_

_Jack looked at the monitor that stood on Daniel's desk with an image of the circle of writing. _"Nou ani anquietas,"_ he read._

_Daniel looked up at Jack with a look of curiosity. "What?"_

"Nou ani anquietas," _Jack repeated._ "Hic qua videum."

"_Jack, are you reading this?" Daniel pointed at the circle of writing._

_Jack tore his eyes from the screen and shrugged. "I don't know," he replied. "You tell me."_

_Cam frowned at the wording of the sentence that Jack had read out. _Nou ani anquietas,_ she repeated in her._ Nou ani anquietas.

**It sounds familiar,**_Kel'an told her._

_Cam bit her lip. _"Nou ani anquietas,"_ she said out loud before it struck her. "'We are the Ancients'."_

_Daniel turned to look at her. "What?" he asked. "What was that?"_

_Cam shook her head, rubbing her forehead angrily. "I don't know," she admitted. "Hearing Jack speak that, I understood. _Nou ani anquietas:_ 'We are the Ancients'_. Hic qua videum:_ 'The place of our legacy'. I think."_

_

* * *

_

Cam growled quietly as Dr. Fraiser finished the brain scan. She sat up when the machine had allowed her to and looked at the older woman.

"_Can I leave?" she asked. "Daniel wants the Goa'uld tablet translated soon."_

_Fraiser just crossed her arms. "You're staying here," she said. "You'll be staying here until I say otherwise."_

_Cam grumbled as she moved to her bed in the other room. She lifted herself up onto it easily and sat down, still grumbling. She watched as Fraiser picked up the two brain scan images of Jack's brain and her own with her as she left the Infirmary. She watched Jack as he crossed his arms over his chest angrily before he started tapping them impatiently. After a few moments Cam watched as he stood up, sliding off of his medical bed before he left the Infirmary. Cam frowned as he walked out without a backwards glance._

**Where is he going? **_Kel'an asked._

_Cam shrugged. _I don't know, _she replied. _I'm not getting anything from the knowledge.

_Cam frowned as Teal'c walked inside. He paused just inside the doorway and frowned as he looked around. He looked at Cam curiously._

"_Do you know where Colonel O'Neill is?" he asked her._

_**

* * *

**_

SEVERAL HOURS LATER

_Cam frowned as she followed Sam into the control room that overlooked the Gateroom. Hammond was standing behind one of the other Gate technicians that Cam didn't recognise. Sam was looking a little sunburnt and Cam remembered the video Daniel had shown Jack and herself earlier. It had taken both Cam and Kel' a few minutes to translate when Jack had started speaking what he had written._

"_We were preparing to send SG-11 to the next new Stargate address that Colonel O'Neill programmed into the computer," Hammond explained as Cam tentatively stood behind her sister that now sat next to the technician, typing furiously away at the computer in front of her._

"_The Gate wouldn't dial out," the technician explained. "The computer's frozen."_

_Sam shook her head. "That doesn't make any sense," she commented. "We've just run a full diagnostic! The Stargate's trying to draw more power than usual from the system."_

_Cam frowned before she looked at the address and remembered what Jack had spent his entire free time making. She continued to frown as she felt Kel'an carefully searching their memories for something._

"_Sir, somehow the Stargate just got a huge power boost," Sam put in. "Its drawing ten times more power than normal."_

"_Isn't that impossible though?" Cam asked, forcing the English words out._

_Sam nodded. "The circuits should've blown," she replied._

_Cam dimly heard Hammond on the phone to someone as she looked between the dialling computer and the Stargate. After a few moments the Stargate started dialling out on its own._

"_Er, sir!" Sam called over her shoulder at Hammond who was standing at the bottom of the stairs, placing the phone away. "The Gate is dialling out!"_

_Hammond hurried over. "Where to?" he asked._

_Sam shrugged, raising her hands in confusion. "I have no way of knowing," she replied. "We've completely lost control, sir."_

_Cam was vaguely aware of various Airmen dashing into the Gateroom as technician called out a chevron locking. She turned her head when she heard three people moving into the room behind them. She nodded at Daniel, Jack and Teal'c politely._

"_The device that Jack built is some sort of energy source," Daniel said. "He just hooked it up in the power vault."_

"_That explains where the extra power came from," Cam said, once again forcing the words out._

_Daniel smiled at her slightly. "I would not have authorized that Dr. Jackson," Hammond said before he turned to look at Sam. "Captain, how do we stop this?"_

_Sam seemed to think for a moment. "You could have Siler pull the main breaker," she said eventually._

"_Chevron six is encoded," the technician called out._

"_Wait, Jack has been saying that this is a good thing," Daniel said before Hammond could call Maintenance. "Now, so far he he's done nothing bad."_

"_So far," Hammond said._

"_Chevron seven is…?" the technician began, frowning as Cam turned to look. "Encoded?"_

_Sam leaned over as the Stargate started spinning once more. "And it's not the point of origin," Sam said after a moment, shocked._

_Hammond frowned as Cam looked closer at the screen, ignoring everyone else before she looked up at the Stargate. "Chevron eight is locked," the technician said before the connecting wormhole arched for a moment. "Wormhole is tracking ….." He paused and looked at Sam. "Captain?" He moved away from his computer, allowing Sam to slide her chair over._

"_Sir," Sam began, her voice shocked. "The computer indicates that the wormhole is leaving our know network of Stargates; it's going outside of our galaxy." She shook her head in shock. "Far out."_

_Daniel smirked. "That's why the Gate needed all the extra power," he commented._

_Hammond raised a hand. "Hold on, I thought that Stargate addresses were six points in space with the seventh being the point of origin," he said._

_Cam shrugged. "The extra chevron adds a new distance calculation to the existing points," she said slowly, her voice straining._

"_It's kinda like dialling a different area code," Sam explained, even as she looked at her sister with a slightly worried expression._

_

* * *

_

Cam stood in the Gateroom, staring up at the Gate as it stood inactive in front of her as she stood at the base of the ramp. It had been close to half an hour after Jack had left through the Gate and Cam was beginning to regret not following Jack when she had the chance.

**We'll live with what you have kid, **_Kel'an soothed her._

_Cam nodded slightly._ I know, _she replied._ This language is hard to control out loud.

_Kel'an chuckled._ **We'll control it soon enough Cam, **_she said._ **Being as old as I am, I have seen some odd things in my lifetime.**

_Cam scoffed._ You aren't that old Kel'_, she stated._

**I was spawned soon after Egeria came to Earth, **_Kel'an told her._ **I, along with Selmak, have watched our brothers and sisters grow after they were spawned. I have watched our numbers slowly dwindle over the last two thousand years.**

_Cam nodded._ I stand corrected, _she admitted._ What was your first host like?

_Kel'an smirked. _**Her name was Aemilia and she was the first to take a Tok'ra as a host, **_she replied._ **She was Roman now that I think back on it. She was a very good Tok'ra for two hundred years before she died like Saroosh. She cared about what we did and she didn't begrudge me for being like the Goa'uld that took the rest of her own family as hosts.**

_Cam smiled slightly._ She sounds like she was a good person Kel', _she said._ I would have liked to have met her.

**You would have liked her, **_Kel'an_ _agreed before they were brought out of their conversation as the Stargate started dialling._

"_We have incoming wormhole!" Sam called out over the P.A. system._

_Cam stepped away from the bottom of the ramp as the Gate connected. After a moment Jack stepped through, smiling slightly as he stepped away from the event horizon before the Iris closed over the Gate._

"_I'm back," Jack said as Daniel and Teal'c walked into the room._

"_What happened?" Daniel asked._

"_Do you still possess the knowledge of the Ancients?" Teal'c asked calmly, his hands clasped behind his back._

_Jack shook his head. "Nope," he replied. "Don't remember a thing." He looked at Daniel. "But ya know that meaning of life stuff?" Daniel nodded. "I think we're gonna be alright."_

_Cam smiled as she stepped up to the other man. "It's good to have you back," she told him._

"_It's good to be back."_

* * *

**Chapter 2: Hide and Seek Gone Wrong**

Cam grunted slightly under the weight of the large box she hefted onto her left shoulder. Teyla walked in front of her, carrying a smaller box towards the open conference room. She paused and turned slightly, her eyes widening slightly to see the size of the box that Cam was carrying on her left shoulder as she easily climbed the stairs in the Gateroom. Cam paused slightly as she turned to her left and climbed the stairs that led to the conference room.

Teyla quickly set her own box down and watched as Cam winced slightly. "Do you need any help?" she asked.

Cam shook her head. "No thanks," she said. "Just make sure the doors stay open?"

Teyla nodded and quickly picked her own box up and moved to the conference room, standing in one opening while Cam made her way towards the one next to her, wincing slightly at the weight. She turned slightly, moving her body so that it lined up with the gap while the large, rectangular box on her shoulder matched as well. She grunted again as she started forwards, stepping through the large gap. She knew Teyla was watching her as she stepped into the room and walked around the segmented island table before she set her large box down.

Cam groaned quietly as she stood up, straightening her back as she did so. She turned to Teyla who placed her own, slightly smaller, box on one of the segmented tables.

"Are you sure you are well?" the Athosian asked her.

Cam smiled and nodded at her. "I'm just a little sore," she replied. "Carrying that kind of weight isn't something I haven't done before."

Teyla looked at her. "Is your body not damaged by the weight?"

Cam shook her head as she carefully stretched her back. "No Teyla," she disagreed. "When I first became a Tok'ra, I learnt how to control the strength I gained." She paused when she saw Sheppard and McKay talking as they walked along the balcony so that they stood by the only outcropping on the balcony.

"You sure about this?" came the quiet question from Sheppard.

McKay merely smiled as he stood with his back to the balcony of the control room. "Okay," he replied. "I'm ready."

Cam barely had any time to speak before Sheppard stood in front of him and deliberately pushed him backwards off of the balcony. She watched as he plunged off of the balcony, a smile on his face. She heard him land with an almost sickening thud on the floor of the Gateroom thirty feet below. She also heard the cries of horror from various people.

Cam raced to the balcony and looked over it, expecting to see McKay lying on the floor, dead. "Did you see that?" Sheppard exclaimed as he laughed delightedly.

Cam nodded as she looked at the still form of McKay, a smile on his face. "You're gonna be–" she stopped when she saw McKay jump up from the floor, raising his hands as he smiled.

"I'm fine!" he called.

Cam looked up at Elizabeth who stood on the balcony outside the Gateroom. They shared a nod and Cam easily launched herself over the balcony, landing a few feet away from McKay who was still smiling as she bent her knees to absorb the impact.

Now that she was closer she could see that he had a small device on his chest which had a green glow to it. She bit her tongue as she waited for Sheppard, Elizabeth and Grodin to join her as they all raced down the stairs opposite the Gate.

"Look, Beckett's gene therapy worked!" McKay stated proudly as he pointed to the device. "I was able to activate this. It's a… personal shield: acts like a protective skin; and it must have inertial dampening properties too." He smiled as he pointed to the balcony thirty feet above them. "Because I didn't feel a thing. Watch this." He looked at Cam. "Hit me."

Cam shook her head before she nodded to Grodin who, without hesitation, threw a punch at his face before a green force field appeared, mere inches from the tip of McKay's nose and Grodin's fist impacted on it loudly.

"Ow!" the British scientist exclaimed. "God!"

Cam moved to his side as he cradled his probably broken hand while the Athosian children nearby laughed. "Come on," she told him quietly. "Let's get that to the Infirmary."

Grodin nodded slightly as he held his hand carefully as they started walking towards the stairs that would lead to the Infirmary.

"You're just jealous," McKay sulkily replied to someone else's comment.

"Oh yes," Elizabeth agreed. "Green with envy."

Cam stopped and turned to look at McKay as he reached for the device, but a green force field appeared between his hand and the device. He tried again.

"This could be a problem," he admitted as he tried again. "I can't get at it."

Cam and Grodin watched as Sheppard reached for the device as well, only to be stopped by the shield. "Just checkin'," Sheppard told him.

Cam groaned at the sight. "Great!"

* * *

Cam stood in front of Grodin as she held her healing device over his injured hand in the infirmary. There was a quiet buzzing in the air as she held the active healing device over the British man's knuckles, healing the damage there.

"I thinking Mr. Invincible," Grodin told Carson who stood a few feet away, working on his laptop.

"Captain Untouchable," Carson put in.

"Ooh, that's good!"

Cam shook her head as they both laughed amiably at that. "Enough you two," she told them before she looked pointedly at Peter Grodin. "I can stop healing your hand right now, Grodin, and leave you to Carson's care with orders for my brother to leave your hand well enough alone."

Grodin bowed his head, a slight smile on his face while McKay merely paced a few feet away.

"You guys done?" he asked.

Carson stood up from where he was at his desk, a smile on his face. "I've been working on this gene therapy for months," he said. "Forgive me for wanting to celebrate the fact that it worked on the first human trial."

"Ooh, let's all have toast!" McKay said sarcastically, raising his hands at the same time.

Cam couldn't help but laugh with the other two for a moment before a thought hit Kel'an. _**Do you think that shield might be able to stop food or drink?**_

Cam knew the other two had though the same thing as they turned to look at the Canadian scientist as one. "Um, just a thought here," Grodin calmly began. "But have you tried eating or drinking anything since you put that on?"

McKay stared at them for a moment, before he turned to a pot of coffee nearby and poured some of it into one of the metal cups. He turned around and lifted the cup. Cam watched as he tried to drink a mouthful before the shield glowed and the liquid poured down his front, not touching him as the shield glowed all the way down his body. Cam didn't need to look at the other two, knowing they all had expressions of shock mirrored there. McKay stared for a moment before he rolled his eyes and poured the rest of the coffee down his front ignoring the fact that the shield kept the liquid away from him, pooling it around his feet.

"That's great!" McKay snapped.

Carson swallowed loudly, shock turning to worry. "This may be more serious than I suspected," he commented calmly after a moment.

"Why, thank you!" McKay sniped at him. "I'm hungry already. What am I going to do? If I don't get this stupid thing off, I'll be dead by the end of the day."

Cam rolled her eyes then, returning to Grodin's hand as she turned it over to carry on healing. "Relax McKay," she said. "Humans have been known to live for at least four days without water."

"Yeah?" McKay asked her sarcastically. "I'm talking about food!"

"Surely you found some Ancient text with the device," she continued, not looking at him. "What did it say about taking it off?"

"Oh yeah, there were some explicit instructions which I chose to completely ignore!"

"Well, some Ancient technology uses a mental component for operation," Grodin commented

McKay nodded. "Just shut up. I'm thinking."

Cam turned her head slightly to see him close his eyes and concentrate. After a few seconds Grodin looked at Carson.

"Is there any chance that the gene therapy isn't permanent?" he asked, half hopeful.

Carson shrugged. "It's possible," he answered unconvincingly.

"I'm a dead man!" McKay plaintively said, his eyes still closed as he frowned.

Cam nodded at Grodin lowering her healing device. "Be careful with that Grodin," she told him. "I don't wanna have to fix that later."

**

* * *

**

THREE HOURS LATER

Cam stood behind Grodin as he sat at a laptop, knowing there were others watching as well: Elizabeth, Sheppard, Martouf, McKay, Ford and quite a few others. She could see the words 'SELF-DESTRUCT ACTIVATION SEQUENCE' written clearly on the screen in block capitals followed quickly by 'ENTER CODE 001' on the next line where a code had already been put in. There was another line ready 'ENTER CODE 002'. Grodin quickly typed in another code, the letters and numbers highlighted in red.

"The self-destruct system requires two separate codes," Grodin explained as he continued to type. "Now each code is unique, and everyone here will be required to memorise their code."

"Well, don't bother giving me one," McKay said before Grodin looked at him. "Sorry."

Elizabeth nodded in understanding at what Grodin had said. "As far as we know, this is the only Stargate in the Pegasus galaxy which is capable of dialling Earth, which would make it the last line of defence against the Wraith," she said, sounding out her thoughts. "If they're going to attack – which we must consider a very real threat – we simply cannot let them gain control of this complex."

Grodin turned slightly in his chair to look at her before he nodded. "If both codes are properly entered, the naquadah generator will overload," he told them. "It will take thirty seconds."

"You sure it'll do enough damage?" Ford asked.

"Ever seen a twenty kiloton nuclear explosion?" McKay asked.

Cam nodded as she raised a hand, as did Martouf.

"I have," Sheppard said before everyone looked at him. "Not up close."

Everyone looked at Cam who nodded once. "Member of SG-1 here," she explained. "Saw plenty in my time with General O'Neill leading us."

"The Tok'ra have had access to many bombs," Martouf told them as the others turned to look at him as well. "Nuclear explosions are one of the many varieties we had access to."

Sheppard shook his head, trying to get the fact straight in his mind. "Look, I think we should tell Teyla what's going on here," he said.

Elizabeth shook her own head, not to get the fact straight in her own mind, but to disagree. "At this moment we still don't know if it was one of the Athosians who tipped off your arrival to their planet," she explained.

"I trust Teyla," Sheppard said as he looked at her.

Elizabeth smiled slightly at him. "So do I," she admitted. "But Teyla trusts her people. If we tell her, she'll want to tell them, and I need more time to get to know them."

**

* * *

**

LATER THAT DAY, NIGHT TIME

Cam smiled as she leaned against the headboard of the small bed she had in her small quarters, wearing full Tok'ra uniform. She looked at the sketch she held in front of her as she frowned taking in the appearance of the man on the paper; he had dreadlocked hair while his skin looked slightly burned, but he couldn't tell with the monotone colour of lead on the paper. She didn't recognise the man she had drawn so clearly.

_Do you recognise him, 'cause I don't, _she asked.

_**It doesn't strike a chord,**_ Kel'an replied after a moment. _**You gonna colour that?**_

Cam shrugged and opened her mouth to reply but stopped when she heard the sound of someone banging on their door a few feet away. They both stiffened.

"Kel'an!" Halling's voice rang through. "Kel'an!"

Cam shot up from the bed before she stepped aside in her mind, letting Kel'an take control. Kel'an swiped her hand in front of the sensor unlocking it, revealing Halling as he stood outside; panting slightly as a young boy stood next to him. Kel'an remembered he was called Wex.

"Jinto's missing," he told her, breathless. "I can't find him. The Major has already started looking. He wanted me to contact you."

Kel'an nodded and grabbed hold of her staff weapon from where it stood by the door after she had grabbed the shoulder sheath and slipped it on. Her Zat gun was already strapped to her host's leg.

"**Is there anything you can tell me about what happened?" **she asked them.

Halling shook his head as Wex looked a bit guilty. Kel'an smiled lightly as she crouched down in front of him and gently took him by his shoulders so that he looked at her.

"**You are hiding something Wex," **she said softly. **"You can tell me, I will not be mad."**

Wex looked up at Halling for a moment before he nodded. "Jinto and I were playing," he told her. "Hide and Seek."

Kel'an smiled at him and nodded. **"Can you remember where you were?" **she asked.

Wex shook his head. "No," he replied. "But I remember a funny noise."

Kel'an smiled as she stood up, letting go of Wex as she did so. **"I will go out and start searching," **she told Halling as started walking off.

* * *

Cam moved easily through the hallways of the city, her staff weapon was strapped to her back in the sheath that she had pulled on before she had left her quarters.

Halling limped next to her, using his crutches to try and keep up with her. Cam sighed as they came to a stop at one of the forked hallways. They had come across four other hallways like this on the six levels they had covered. Halling sighed next to her as they both breathed for a moment.

Cam tapped the radio at her ear three times, hoping to gain the attention of the Control room. _"Grodin here," _came the reply. _"How can I help you?"_

Cam smiled weakly as she looked down the fork, eying the two possibilities. "I want to know if you can use the sensors to locate Jinto," she replied calmly.

There was an extremely short pause. _"We don't have enough power to activate the whole city at one time," _he replied. _"Even if that were possible the sensors don't distinguish –" _He cut off for a moment before he continued. _"Individuals."_

"What just happened?" she asked him.

"_Lights just gave us a run," _he replied.

"_**Jinto?" **_Elizabeth's voice echoed through the communications system. _**"This is Dr. Weir. If you can hear me, please respond." **_Both Cam and Halling looked up, looking for the nearest inbuilt speaker at the position. _**"Jinto? If you're lost; if you can't –"**_

Elizabeth's voice was cut off as all the lights went out and the comm.'s system with it. After a few minutes Cam heard her radio activate once more.

"_Alright, all teams fall back to the Gateroom and wait for further instructions," _Sheppard's voice echoed from the radio at her waist.

Halling looked at her. "We can't stop searching," he told her.

Cam shook her head. "Sheppard, this is Kel'an's host, I'm going to continue the search personally," she spoke into her headset once she had activated the radio. "I need someone to come and escort Halling back to the Gateroom."

"_I'm on my way," _Martouf's voice responded over the radio. _"I'm three corridor's over from you."_

Cam nodded, deactivating her radio before she looked at Halling. "I'm going to continue searching for Jinto myself," she told him. "Martouf is coming to get you before I start."

She looked to her right, over her shoulder, when she heard the sound of Tok'ra boots as Martouf appeared at the end of the hallway. She nodded at him before she smiled at Halling.

"You promise to find my son?" he asked her as Martouf moved quickly to them.

Cam shook her head. "I promise to try and find your son," she corrected. "I'll find your son." She nodded her head at her brother. "Martouf," she greeted him.

"**Cam,"** Lantash greeted her. **"May your search be well."**

Cam smiled as he led Halling away before she started down the left fork, lifting a torch in front of her, activating it.

**

* * *

**

1 HOUR LATER

Cam ignored Elizabeth's voice as it came over the comm.'s system, keeping her torch still as she continued to walk, using her instincts to search for Jinto. She paused by a stretch of wall, her legs beginning to feel sore.

_**Give me a minute kid, **_Kel'an told her as she leaned against the wall, resting.

_Take your time Kel', _Cam replied.

"_**If you see anything out –" **_Elizabeth's voice was cut off by another, younger voice.

"_**Hello?" **_the young voice and Cam recognised it as Jinto's. _**"Can you hear me? Can anyone hear me?"**_

"_**Jinto?" **_That was Sheppard, obviously in the control room.

"_**Major Sheppard!" **_Cam smiled as she heard how relieved Jinto sounded.

"_**Are you okay?" **_Elizabeth asked.

"_**I'm scared."**_

"_**Where are you?" **_Sheppard's voice was slightly weaker now, almost like he was walking away from the microphone in the control room.

"_**I don't know."**_

Cam tapped her radio, hacking into the system. "Jinto?" she asked. "It's me Cam. Start from the beginning. Tell us how you got to where you are now."

Cam could hear her voice reverberating in the comm.'s system. _**"I was in the hall outside my quarters," **_Jinto replied.

The Tok'ra nodded and quickly ran to the stairs she had climbed down a few minutes before and started up them, climbing two steps at a time. She climbed as many stairs that presented themselves before she ran to the next one on the level until she reached the level right beneath were Jinto and Halling slept. She moved quickly up the steps and smiled when she saw the others climbing down the stairs above her, heading for the same level. She placed a hand over her microphone on her radio headset as she hauled herself onto the landing before the others. Martouf was with them and he nodded at her, a slight smile on his face.

"Good to see you guys," she said when they joined her.

Elizabeth nodded as they stepped over to the room where the two Athosians room. They didn't go anywhere as Cam let go of her microphone.

"Where did you go next?" Sheppard asked.

"_**I don't know," **_Jinto replied quietly.

"He is used to the forest," Teyla supplied, having joined them with Halling. "Being able to see the stars at night."

"_**I found a small room filled with boxes from Earth," **_Jinto suddenly supplied.

Cam looked around and noticed a pair of doors in front of her at the end of the hallway. It looked exactly like the ones she had seen on the floors below. She and McKay walked over to them, the others behind him. They both stepped back slightly as the doors slid open, revealing a small room which was empty.

"No boxes," she commented quietly as she searched through her mind for the information she needed.

"_**They are here with me."**_

Cam nodded, even as McKay looked at Cam. "Someone thought it would make a nice closest," he told her before he frowned. "You getting anything from that download in your brain."

Cam thought for a moment, letting Kel' search before she shook her head. "Nothing," she admitted. "But it may be under a different name than the one I'm using."

She shrugged as she stepped inside. On the wall opposite the doors, this was only at the most three feet away, a panel opened that had previously been shut, revealing a glowing map of the city.

"**Definitely not a closet then," **Lantash said from where he stood outside with the others.

Cam nodded. "Did the panel start to glow when you stepped inside?" she asked Jinto, raising her voice slightly.

"_**Yes!"**_

"Did you touch it?"

"_**Yes," **_Jinto sounded a little meek.

"Do you know exactly what you touched?"

"_**I – I don't remember."**_

"Just before he disappeared, we got an unusual energy reading from this area here," McKay told her as he pointed to part of the map.

Cam nodded as she reached out and touched the screen, right where he had indicated. She smiled as the doors closed behind them and a white light filled the room for a moment. The doors opened again behind them, revealing a different room as Cam stepped out first, relaxing as she realised what the small room she had left was.

"Transporter," she said quietly. "Gotta thank the Ancients for the storage devices."

She smiled when she saw the familiar brown mop of brown hair peer around a nearby corner. "Cam!" she heard Jinto exclaim as he rushed out from where he hid.

Cam smiled as she crouched down. "Jinto!" she greeted the boy. "You okay?"

Jinto nodded. "Yes," he replied.

Cam's smile widened as she tapped her radio, activating it. "We've got Jinto," she said. "He's alright."

Cam stood up, wincing slightly as she watched McKay walk over to a console and swiped his hand over it, activating the buttons.

"You have an idea of what this place is?" she asked him.

McKay looked at her. "You don't recognise it?" he asked her.

Cam shook her head. "Ancients built the store of information after they returned but they didn't include many schematics," she replied.

McKay shrugged as he turned back to the console. "Some sort of research lab," he told her. "We've come across a few of them. These consoles generally access the central computer systems, so Jinto could have caused what we thought were malfunctions from here." He turned to look at Jinto who had followed Cam over to the consoles. "Look, I need to know everything you touched."

Cam smiled as Jinto looked up at him nervously. "It's alright Jinto," she told him. "You won't get in trouble."

Jinto nodded and Cam stepped away, allowing the two to talk for a few minutes before Jinto tugged on her sleeve. "Can I go see my dad?" he asked her.

Cam looked at McKay who nodded at her. "I'll be fine, just send someone over in case," he told her.

Cam nodded as she moved to the transporter. "Come on in," she told Jinto. "Let's get you back to your dad."

Jinto stepped nervously in beside her as she touched the now active screen where the others still stood. They appeared in a flash of white light at the location, the doors sliding open in front of them, revealing the others. Jinto stepped out of the transporter before he rushed to his father as they embraced. Cam smiled at Sheppard, even as she nodded to the transporter.

"Go on," she told him. "McKay wants a bit of company."

Sheppard sighed as he stepped inside, the doors closing before he touched the screen.

Cam nodded to Ford and Stackhouse as she walked through the corridors. She paused and turned to go back to them. She paused when she saw Ford working at the controls for the door. She moved to his side.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"Trying to get out of here!" he snapped at her. "The Shadow's coming this way!"

Cam nodded and shouldered the man to the side. She easily grabbed hold of the crystals and following the plan in her mind that the store of information was throwing up for her and quickly bypassed the commands, touching the flat crystals in a quick series as she saw the Shadow turning the corner.

"Get in there!" she snapped at the two as she grabbed them and shoved them bodily through the door into the corridor before she shut it, swinging her hand in front of the sensor, closing the door on them as the Shadow descended on her.

She turned and started to run. She stopped moving when she felt the Shadow grab hold of her, not letting go. She felt pain spreading all over her body, starting at her face. She wasn't aware that she had inadvertently activated her radio before when she had snapped at Ford and Stackhouse and she wasn't aware that her screams of pain were rocketing down the connection to the control room before she blacked out, feeling her body hit the floor as the Shadow passed on. Before she felt her consciousness slip away she heard the door to her right slide open, letting Ford and Stackhouse back into the now empty corridor.

John walked into the infirmary half an hour later, Elizabeth at his side. Both Beckett and Martouf were at Carter's bedside as she lay there, unmoving with a nasal cannula inserted into her nose. Martouf held his hands over Carter's left arm with a glowing device that gave off a quiet humming while he kept his eyes closed. Beckett nodded as he conversed quietly with Martouf before he glanced over his shoulder.

"Right," he agreed quietly as he stood up straighter. "Hang in there." He turned and walked away from the bed, leaving Martouf to close his eyes as he continued to hold his hands above her left arm. "Are we in any danger here?" Beckett asked them.

Elizabeth shrugged. "I wish I could tell you," she replied quietly.

"How is she?" John asked.

Beckett shrugged at him. "It's like she's been hit by lightning," he replied. "But she's got several contusions that my good friend Martouf is healing." He smiled for a moment before he looked back at Carter and sighed. "She's got several broken bones that I know her symbiote is trying to heal."

"She's gonna be okay?" Elizabeth asked.

Beckett nodded and smiled. "She's a tough kid," he admitted. "You can have a look at her."

He stepped to the side, letting them pass closer to the bed where Stackhouse and Ford stood behind Martouf, watching as the young Tok'ra was healed. Elizabeth stood by Carter's head, looking at the burns that marred her face. Martouf opened his eyes and smiled at John.

"Would you mind telling the Marines behind me there's nothing they could have done?" he asked him.

John smiled and looked at the two who stood stiffly behind him. "There is nothing you could have done," he told them.

"We could have pulled her with us," Stackhouse replied.

"Then you would look like my sister here," Martouf shot over his shoulder as he moved his hands up to her upper right arm. "Several broken bones and beaten pair of lungs."

Almost like his words were a prophecy, Carter's eyes shot open with a pained gasp following it as she shot up, grasping at her throat. She held her throat with a tight grip as she gasped for breath, air rattling in her throat. Martouf let go of his glowing thing, letting it drop as he grasped his sister, holding her as her body shook while tears streamed down her cheeks. Martouf's eyes flashed for a moment as his other side took control.

"**Kel'an!" **Lantash spoke, gaining the attention of Carter who turned her eyes to look at him. **"Take control! I know you can hear me!"**

John stepped back when Carter's haggard breathing stopped as her eyes flashed. Her breathing even as Kel'an sighed with relief and leaned back in the bed as Lantash let go of her and his eyes flashed once more as Martouf took control.

"**I am tired," **Kel'an muttered as she looked down at her upper arm. **"That being took more energy out of us than I had originally estimated."**

"Energy?" John asked.

Martouf nodded as he resumed healing after he had picked up his healing device. "Yes," he agreed. "As Tok'ra, hosts gain the ability to store energy in reserve for use in emergency." He smiled wryly as Ford and Stackhouse moved closer. "It has come in handy more times than I care to count, but it seems, from Cam's extreme reaction, that it depleted those."

"**Not extreme reaction," **Kel'an absently corrected. **"Cam was born with a breathing difficulty that was only exacerbated by poor treatment by her birth relatives." **Kel'an shook her head. **"Under normal circumstances I would be breathing for Cam even as she had complete control. That Shadow took the energy I also put aside and reserve for that specific use."**

Martouf shook his head as he held his hand above her chest, holding the device there for a few moments before he let his arm drop in exhaustion. "You think you can heal the damage to her lungs?" he asked.

Kel'an shrugged. **"I'll be able to heal most of the damage including surface damage to her lungs," **she said as Beckett walked over. **"It might take me a few days, but I should be able to heal everything fully." **She smiled at him. **"Go sleep Martouf. We will not die if you do not treat us in the next twelve hours."**

John smiled at the dry humour in the double-tone voice before he looked at the two Marines hovering behind Martouf. "That's for you two as well," he told them. "Go get some rest and you can back in the morning to check she hasn't keeled over."

Ford nodded, as did Stackhouse, before they saluted and walked out of the room. "See you in the morning, Kel'," Ford called over his shoulder before he left the Infirmary.

It was still dark when Cam lay in her Infirmary bed, a nasal cannula wrapped around her face, her hands crossed over her stomach as she meditated quietly under the watchful gaze of one of the nurses who kept checking her vital signs on the small screen above her head. She opened her eyes and looked at the young nurse. She had long brown hair caught up in a bun at the base of her head.

"If I promise to go to sleep, will you go and check on everyone else and leave me be?" she asked the nurse.

The dark green eyes of the older woman glared down at her before she nodded. Cam nodded slowly back before she closed her eyes and relaxed her arms, letting them fall as she let her body and mind relax as she waited for unconsciousness take her away. She forced herself to not smirk as she heard the nurse huff before she walked off, not being at all quiet about it. She sighed as she let her mind drift, trying to find the eddy that would take her into her dreams before she heard the Infirmary doors slide open and two people stepped inside. She heard the sounds of their boots but she couldn't identify them.

_**Athosian, **_Kel'an supplied for her after a moment.

Cam smiled slightly even as she heard two voices talking. "May we see Camilla Carter?" a woman asked and Cam swore it was Teyla from the sound of her voice.

"She is resting right now," her hard-assed nurse told the Athosian leader. "You will have to come back in the morning when she is awake and ready for visitors by Dr. Beckett's standards."

Cam groaned as she opened her eyes and turned to look at the nurse and Teyla, seeing Jinto standing there, looking a bit scared. "Did you ever think, nurse, that now might be the only time Teyla and Jinto could come a visit me?" she asked. "Did you also ever think that it takes me a while to fall asleep like everyone here?"

The nurse ground her teeth before she stalked off, heading deeper into the Infirmary, probably looking to go talk to Carson. Cam smiled as Teyla and Jinto came over though the young boy still looked a bit frightened.

"Hey," she said gently, still smiling.

Teyla smiled back at her while Jinto tried to do the same. "Jinto has something he wishes to say," she said as she looked at the boy at her side.

"I am sorry," Jinto said quietly, his hands pressed together in front of him. "What happened to you was my fault."

Cam shook her head. "On Earth, where I was born, there is a saying," she told him. "'Stuff happens'." She smiled. "It's a little bit different actually." She shook her head again. "You didn't mean for this to happen?" she asked, trying a different tactic. Jinto shook his head. "You are a good kid. You didn't do anything wrong which means this is not your fault Jinto. Alright?" Jinto nodded again, but still looked unconvinced. Cam sighed as she forced herself to sit up straight, ignoring the pain in her body as she did so, hiding a wince. "Think of it this way Jinto. We didn't mean for the Wraith to show up – they just did. That is the reason you are here. Your home was destroyed. You nearly lost your father." She looked at him. "I don't remember you gettin' mad at me or the others here over that."

Jinto shrugged as he understood. "Stuff happens," he agreed.

Cam smiled as she relaxed her body slightly aware that her back was visible to everyone to see. Teyla smiled at her, even as Jinto did the same.

"I am sorry for interrupting your rest," she said. "We shall leave."

Cam shook her head. "You didn't interrupt," she said. "I don't want force you out of here when you don't want to go because of the nurse that was glaring over me."

Teyla smiled as Cam pulled her legs back, creating a space for the two to sit if they wanted. Cam smiled when they took her silent offer and sat down on the bed. She felt Carson standing at the entrance to the section of the room she was in before he turned away, taking the nosey nurse with him.

"Can you tell me of your people?" Jinto asked her.

Cam smiled as she shook her head. "You have heard the stories of the Earth people from Major Sheppard," she said, knowing he wanted her to talk about the Tok'ra.

Jinto shook his head. "Not them," he disagreed with her comment. "I want to learn of the Tok'ra."

Cam shook her head again, teasing him. "I won't be able to tell you as I do not know any," she told him. "But I do know someone who does."

"Who?"

Cam closed her eyes and let her head lean forwards to rest on her chest as she stepped aside in her mind, allowing Kel'an control. The symbiote reluctantly took control for a moment before she solidified it, her worry over her host gone when she stepped into the corners of her mind where she curled up and fell asleep.

"**Good evening Jinto," **Kel'an greeted the boy when she had raised her head and opened her eyes. **"I understand you want to hear some stories about my race?"**

Jinto nodded slightly. "It would be nice," he replied.

Kel'an smiled at her as she leaned back slightly, reminiscing mentally, searching for a suitable story to tell him. **"I do not believe you have heard of the exploits of a friend of mine," **she said. **"Garshaw of a planet called Belote." **She smiled as Jinto shook his head. **"It all started on…"**

She spoke and wove tales of truth for a few hours until Jinto started yawning. Kel'an smiled at him with Teyla.

"It is time for you to leave Jinto," the Athosian leader said quietly, knowing there were other people who were sleeping.

Jinto nodded and climbed off of the bed and moved over to the door where a Marine stood. Kel'an nodded to the Marine.

"**Make sure he gets to his room with his father," **she told him.

The Marine nodded and gently took Jinto's hand and lead him out of the Infirmary and out towards the stairs that lay a few meters away from the Infirmary doors. Teyla looked at her for a moment, her brows furrowed in thought.

"You did not have to do that," she said after a moment.

Kel'an shrugged. **"He'll feel that much safer for having an Earth man walk him to his room," **she replied. **"I know I felt better after I first went to Earth." **She smiled at Teyla. **"Though my host is of Earth, I am not." **She looked at the Athosian closely for a moment, frowning slightly. **"There is something you wish to ask me?"**

"I saw your back when I helped bring you in," the Athosian told her. "There were words cut into your back. What do they mean if you do not mind?"

Kel'an shrugged at her. **"**_**I **_**do not mind," **she replied. **"But I know my host is still disturbed by the event that brought the words on her back to her." **She swallowed convulsively for a moment before she nodded. **"It means that both Cam and myself are the property of Anubis, a former System Lord."**

Teyla nodded. "Thank you," she replied. "I understand that it must have been hard for you to tell me, I will tell no others."

Kel'an smiled and nodded as Teyla stood up, off of the bed, before she left the Infirmary, the doors sliding open and shut for her. Kel'an smiled slightly as she carefully laid herself down on the bed and let her mind drift into the realms of unconsciousness.

* * *

When Cam next woke up it was to the sound of McKay and Ford talking. She frowned as she slowly forced herself to sit up to get a better look at the Infirmary around her. Two beds down from her sat McKay, wearing the Infirmary whites, talking to Ford who sat in a bed opposite McKay on the other side of the Infirmary.

_**Glad to see you're awake kid, **_Kel'an muttered sleepily.

_Thanks Kel', _Cam replied before she looked at the other two occupants of the Infirmary.

"What happened?" she asked and smiled when she saw both of them jump in fright. "Well?"

"What is it with you Tok'ra and military folk scarring people like that?" McKay demanded when he had eventually settled back on his bed.

Cam merely raised an eyebrow, imitating Teal'c as she turned to look at Ford who also had a slightly burnt face. "I was attacked by the Shadow, ma'am," he told her.

Cam nodded in understanding as she relaxed her raised eyebrow and returned her attention to McKay who was moving his one hand over a large datapad he held in a frantic manner. He looked up a moment later, feeling her stare at him.

He shrugged at her. "We," McKay paused. "And when I say we, I mean I, think that the Ancients captured the 'Shadow' to experiment on ascension. Basically it tried to absorb all the energy in Atlantis." He shrugged again. "All human and Naquadah generators alike."

"It fried me pretty bad, ma'am," Ford put in.

"You do look a little cooked, Lieutenant." Cam smiled at him before she saw the relaxed demeanour of the two. "Where is it now?"

"On M4X-337." McKay told her. "We tricked it through the Gate with a little heroism from me."

Cam raised both eyebrows at him, not needing to vocalise her question.

"Yes…" McKay frowned. "Why are you surprised by that?"

Cam grinned at Ford before sagging back against the pillow. "If you continue to call me ma'am Lieutenant, I'd suggest stopping," she told him. "Ask the last person who called me that." She paused for a moment, seeming to think before she faked a mild look of surprise. "Oh, now I remember, he died in the line of fire two years ago."

Ford smiled at her, knowing she was teasing.

"Ms. Carter?" Her name being called out in a strong Scottish brogue made her groan as she realised who it was. "How long have you been awake?" Cam turned to look at Carson as he stood at the entrance to the room.

She smiled innocently when she saw Ford's smirk. "A few minutes," she admitted as he walked around McKay's bed and over to hers, pulling out his stethoscope as he did so. "I'm sure Lieutenant Ford was just about to let you know." Cam just smiled as Carson turned to glare at the Marine who lost his grin and sank into his medical bed.

"Let's have a look at you then." She muted a groan, hearing Kel'an chuckling loudly as the older man started running her through various medical tests.

About five minutes into them Major Sheppard and Elizabeth walked into the room with smiles on their faces after seeing that she was awake.

"Good to see you awake, Cam," Elizabeth greeted her.

"You had us worried for a while there," Carson told her as he continued his tests.

"When you didn't wake up in the morning we began to worry," Sheppard told her. "We thought the Shadow had done more damage."

"Well, as bad as being electrocuted is," McKay said, joining in. "Having your energy absorbed by an alien entity is far worse."

Cam turned to look at him as she let Kel'an take control. **"This is from experience is it Dr. McKay?" **she asked.

"Thank you both," Elizabeth said, ending the debate.

Kel'an bowed her head politely at Elizabeth. **"Of course Dr. Weir," **she said.

Elizabeth merely rolled her eyes and looked at Carson who nodded and stood up. "When can I have my ambassador back?" she asked.

Carson shrugged. "When she's ready," he replied. "Her heart and lungs sound fine and the burns have decreased dramatically over the last few hours."

Kel'an smiled smugly at the Scottish doctor. **"It is an upside of being a Tok'ra Dr. Beckett," **she said. **"Healing time decreases rapidly allowing for both host and symbiote to go on more missions in the host's lifetime." **She looked over at Elizabeth. **"When Dr. Beckett kindly releases me, I will report for duty."**

Beckett looked at her for a moment, staring at her with his blue eyes before he nodded. "You can go lass," he said. "You're uniform is at the end of your bed." He stepped away from her, moving to go check on Ford.

Kel'an turned her head and saw the almost delicately folded pile of clothes and smiled as she picked them up. **"Thank you Dr. Beckett," **she said as she stood up and walked out of the infirmary, heading towards a nearby room where she could easily and quickly change.

* * *

"_We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." George Bernard Shaw quotes _

"_Hiding places there are innumerable, escape is only one, but possibilities of escape, again, are as many as hiding places." Franz Kafka_

_

* * *

_

What did you think? Was it too long? Were the spelling mistakes or continuity issues? Or did you just plain like it. Please, let me know. Your reviews feed my writing! Press that button and let me know. Just as a disclaimer for myself, no flames please. This is your only warning 'cause if I do get a flame, I will report abuse. You have been warned.

On a lighter note, tell me what you think should happen in the next chapter.


	4. Chap 3: Thirty Eight Minutes Until Death

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Cam, Kel'an and maybe the little plot twists I've put in here!

I would like to thank _Fluffy's minion_for being my beta. Without her, none of this would be here without her help. Thanks are due to _Fluffy's minion_for without her, there would be a lot more errors and the like. I may have written this, but it is _Fluffy's minion_who has done a lot of work with me. Thank _Fluffy's minion_.

***I bow at her feet in thanks and gratitude***

As a note, my apologies for the update taking so long, but life and health decided to monkey around with me. I'm hoping to get these out on a more regular basis, so nobody should be wanting for much longer. Hehe. This chapter is dedicated to all my readers who've been waiting patiently for this.

Please read and tell me honestly what you all think.

* * *

_To some, deserts might have been the crème-de-la-crème in terms of places to see and visit; Cam disagreed as she sat directly on top of the Stargate, her feet resting against the top chevron as she wore the uncomfortable desert camouflage that the people of the SGC had insisted that they all wore when travelling to desert planets. Sam and Jack sat on the top steps that led to the Stargate while Daniel lay on the bottom ones. Cam turned her gaze to where Teal'c possibly paced in front of the dialling device while he held a P-90, his Staff weapon back on Earth._

"_Shouldn't they be here by now?" Daniel asked._

_Cam shrugged. "They should have," she agreed while Teal'c stopped walking to turn to look at them._

"_I do not believe the Tok'ra would mislead us," he said calmly as he looked at Cam before he started walking again._

_The others looked up at her as she smiled down at them. "How did you get up there?" Daniel asked her._

_Cam shrugged. "Climbed up," she replied. "It's easy." Her face turned serious as she closed her eyes and allowed Kel'an to take control._

"_**Teal'c is correct, the Tok'ra would not mislead us," **__Kel'an told them. __**"Especially since I am one of them."**_

_Daniel nodded. "Well, assuming it was the Tok'ra who sent us the message to meet them here in the first place," he said. "I mean all we really received was a set of co-ordinates."_

_Kel'an shrugged as Sam looked at Daniel. "But on our radio frequencies," she continued. "Who else would send us a signal like that?"_

_Kel'an smirked before she let Cam take back control. "You know, I'm not really too crazy about this 'don't call us, we'll call you' policy," Jack commented as he turned slightly to look at Sam._

_Cam chuckled as she shook her head. After a few moments Cam stiffened when she heard the sound of a metallic and electric shot being fired. It sounded like a Staff weapon. Teal'c paused and turned to look passed the Stargate for the moment before he looked up at the sky behind him._

"_There!" he shouted as he raised one hand to point at the sky._

_Cam grabbed hold of the edge of the Stargate and pushed herself off so that she dangled in front of the space where the wormhole usually erupted before she let herself drop to the stone bellow, landing behind Jack as he got up and started moving down the steps. Cam looked up and groaned she saw a Goa'uld Death Glider flying towards them, heavy fire raining down behind and in front of her._

"_Cover up!" Jack shouted as he hurled himself to the sand, the others following him as Cam crouched down._

_They all watched as the glider was hit and crashed a short distance over a nearby sand dune. Cam, thanks to Kel'an pushed herself up running like she had seen the athletes at the Olympics do. She smiled as Jack ran in front of her easily, taking the lead. They climbed easily of the sand dune to see the glider lying in pieces at the base. One person lay dead by the open cockpit while the cover for the cockpit laid a few yards away, the glass broken._

_There was one other person as they slowly crawled away from the crash. Jack climbed down the dune, sliding most of the way down before he took the few steps necessary for him to stand behind the person, pointing his P-90 at him. The man turned around and Cam paled slightly when she recognised the man as Apophis as his eyes glowed while he lay looking at them, looking pretty beat up._

_Cam slid down the dune after Teal'c and Sam had gone first._

"_Holy Buckets," Jack muttered._

"_**Help me," **__Apophis said._

"_Crap," Cam muttered._

"_Well?" Jack asked._

_Cam looked at Daniel to see his eyebrows disappearing into his hair line. "Wow," he said eventually. "Is that who I think it is?"_

"_**Tau'ri please."**_

_Cam growled angrily while Teal'c merely grabbed his Zat'nik'tel and aimed it at Apophis as it activated._

"_Teal'c!" Sam shouted. "Apophis is much more valuable to us alive than dead."_

_Teal'c seemed to agree as he put his Zat'nik'tel away before Apophis pointed to the sky behind them. Cam didn't move as she saw Sam turn to look._

"_Sir," she said urgently. "We've got incoming."_

_Cam kept looking at Apophis as Jack turned to look behind him, doing a double take. "Oy," she heard him mutter before he turned back to Apophis. "Alright. Dial us up, get us out of here!"_

_Daniel nodded as he turned around and climbed up the sand dune while Teal'c picked up his former master, draping him over his shoulders before he followed after Daniel. Cam turned and ran, easily climbing the dune and looked over at the Gate. Daniel was at the dialling device, already dialling Earth. Sam tossed her GDO at Cam who nodded and slid down the dune once more before she ran to Daniel's side._

"_How much longer?" she asked him._

_Both Daniel and Cam ducked as another shot sang in the air. Cam's hand shot to her berretta while Daniel stood up and pushed the last two co-ordinates for Earth before pressing the large, red and domed button in the middle of the dialling device. The familiar sound of the Gate connecting to Earth as the event horizon arched for a moment before settling into the large upright puddle Cam knew._

"_About now," he replied._

_Cam nodded and quickly input Sam's code. "That should be it," she said after she had pressed the final button._

_She looked up at the dune to see Jack and Teal'c at the top while Sam hurried over, raising her P-90 and firing at the many Death Gliders high above them._

* * *

_Cam grunted as she forced herself to come to a stop on the other side of the Gate before she hurried down the ramp, hearing Teal'c's heavy-footed walk behind her as he walked towards the gurney. She heard a loud thump as someone came through the Stargate, landing on their back._

_Cam watched as Teal'c roughly laid Apophis down. "Colonel?" Hammond asked._

"_General Hammond," Jack began as he stood up. "Apophis." He stepped up beside Cam. "Apophis, General Hammond."_

_Cam watched as Apophis glared over her shoulder at Hammond. "We've met," Hammond commented, sounding pissed._

"_**I demand Kel'ma!" **__Apophis called out._

_Jack turned to look at Daniel. "I'm not really sure," he said. "But I think what he's asking us for is…"_

"_Sanctuary," Teal'c told them, cutting off Daniel._

_Daniel nodded. "Right."_

"_Why?" Hammond asked._

_Cam bowed her head, allowing Kel'an control, not wanting to speak herself in front of the former System Lord. __**"A rival Goa'uld or System Lord has bested him," **__she said when she had lifted her head._

"_There were several other Death Gliders in pursuit when we took him prisoner, sir," Sam explained._

"_**I demand Kel'ma!" **__Apophis shouted._

"_You're not in a position to demand anything, sir," Hammond told him before he nodded at the men that guarded the Gate. "Lock him up."_

_Several moved forwards to follow his orders, only to stop when Fraiser stepped in the way. "Sir, with all due respect, he is badly injured," she said. "He is not going to be any use to you if we don't get him to the OR right now."_

_Hammond seemed to think for a moment before he nodded. "Do what you need to keep him alive Dr.," he told her. "We got a lot of questions that need answers."_

_Fraiser nodded. "Yes, sir," she agreed before she looked at the two male nurses that held the gurney. "Okay, let's move him." She started walking as the nurses pushed on the gurney. "Let him start on two IV's and I wanna rung ringer's lactate wide open," she said, her voice quietening the further away they got._

"_I want four SF's posted at all times," Hammond told the men. "If he attempts to escape, you're authorised to do whatever is necessary to stop him."_

_The men nodded and one man pointed to three others before they left the Gateroom._

"_We'll debrief at eleven hundred hours," Hammond said before he left, going down the ramp with a sour look._

"_**Of course General," **__Kel'an agreed._

* * *

_**THE NEXT DAY**_

_Cam stood in the observation room of the Infirmary, looking down on Apophis who lay on an elevated medical bed in the middle of the room while he lay restrained and wearing white clothes. She stood next to Teal'c as they looked down with the rest of SG-1, Fraiser and Hammond._

"_Both femurs were smashed and there was internal bleeding," Fraiser reported. "Surgery and transfusions have stabilised him for now."_

_Cam nodded. "The Goa'uld symbiote within him will repair those injuries," Teal'c said._

_Fraiser shrugged. "Well, I think it has kept him alive so far Teal'c," she agreed. "But take a look at these monitors." She nodded to the computer screens that showed real-time information scans of Apophis. "See, what you're looking at is the actual symbiote attached to the host's brainstem. Have you seen the lesions? I mean, there are dozens of them." She shrugged once more. "I can treat the human part, but as for the symbiote itself…"_

"_There is no treatment," Sam said slowly. "He's been tortured."_

_Cam moved to Sam's side and touched her shoulder as her sister flinched visibly, almost like she had been hit._

"_You alright?" she asked as Jack asked the same thing._

"_I…" Sam stuttered for a moment as she rubbed her forehead. "Just had a memory of Jolinar… pain… when she was killed by the Ashrak."_

_Cam nodded in understanding before she let Kel'an take control, not bothering to lower her head to do so, allowing her eyes to flash. __**"The Ashrak normally use small weapons that cause immense pain to both host and symbiote," **__she explained for the others. __**"They have been used on many Tok'ra since I have been spawned. It is a shameful way to die." **__She shuddered. __**"As much as I dislike Apophis it is something that no living being should go through."**_

_Jack looked at Sam before she looked away._

* * *

_Cam sat in Daniel's office on a spare stool while Teal'c stood by the door; Daniel by a computer that everyone could see while Jack paced the room and Sam stood out of his path. Cam sat next to Sam._

"_Sokar is a Goa'uld of ancient times," Teal'c told them. "He once was ruler of the System Lords but was defeated by an alliance of Goa'uld many centuries ago. Apophis and Ra were amoung his conquerors."_

_Cam smiled as Kel'an took control. __**"One alliance that I can proudly say that I was a part of," **__she said._

"_Where did he go?" Sam asked._

_Kel'an shrugged. "Apophis himself believed him destroyed," Teal'c said before he smiled. "But obviously he was mistaken."_

"_Well, if he was almost wiped out, how bad could he be now?" Jack asked. Both Kel'an and Teal'c looked at him. "It's rhetorical."_

"_His name's also very old in Earth mythology," Daniel put in as he looked up from a book his held in front of him. "He was the most feared deity in Ancient Egypt; the original God of Death."_

"_**I remember seeing Sokar on Earth before the rebellion," **__Kel'an said. __**"The land of Memphis?" **__Daniel nodded at her pronunciation. __**"The land of Memphis was inhabited by serpents and covered by darkness. My host and I visited the area and we barely left with our lives."**_

_Daniel brought up an image on the computer screen. "Unas," Teal'c said after a moment. "The first host of the Goa'uld."_

_Daniel shrugged. "Well, that makes sense," he said. "I mean if the Unas were the first ones, then there had to be a time when both form of Goa'uld hosts co-existed, Unas and Human." He paused to think for a moment. "Kind of like Neanderthals…"_

"_Which is he?" Jack interrupted._

_Daniel shrugged as he brought up another image. "I don't know," he admitted. "But his portion of Tuat or the other world was filled with lakes of fire, the wicked were thrown into his punishment after torture and mutilation."_

"_Hell," Jack summarised._

"_Yeah," Daniel agreed. "Basically, he was the original Satan."_

"_Ah, isn't that special."_

"INCOMING TRAVELLER!"

_Kel'an looked up as the klaxons sounded. "Speak of the devil," Jack muttered as he stood up from where he had sat down against one of the many tables in Daniel's office._

* * *

_Kel'an heard the distinctive thump of something hitting the Iris in front of the Gate before it shut down as she climbed the stairs._

"_Is there any way to determine what that was?" Hammond asked as Sam moved passed Kel'an._

_Sam nodded after a moment. "Yes, sir," she replied. "We can get a radiation team in there to check the decay signature on the Iris."_

"_I'm on it Captain," Simmons, a Gate technician said before he pressed a button for the intercom. "Radiation team to Gateroom."_

"_In the mean time, sir," Jack began. "I'd like to get back to the interrogation if I may."_

"_Okay," Hammond agreed._

_Kel'an smiled as she stepped closer to Sam. __**"Do you mind if I watch and see how you determine what it was that hit your Iris?" **__she asked._

_Sam smiled and nodded. "Of course," she said._

* * *

"INCOMMING TRAVELLER!"_ Simmon's voice echoed through the intercom as Cam stood in the control room that overlooked the Gateroom._

"_Decision time sir," Jack said._

"_Captain Carer, are you one hundred percent certain..."_

"_That the signature matches the Tok'ra?" Sam asked. "That it came from them? There's no way to be sure."_

"_Isn't the radiation signature unique to all the boxes?" Cam asked._

_Sam shook her head as Hammond looked at her. "What if one or more of the Tok'ra have been captured by Sokar and tortured?"_

"_The Tok'ra would not give up the Tau'ri like that," Cam told him. "The symbiote – with permission from the host – will, upon death, release a toxin into the blood stream that will kill the host if they are still alive. Even if they are placed in a sarcophagus, it will not heal the damage. The Tok'ra would have died."_

"_I'm with the Carters, General," Jack said. "I say we keep the door open."_

_Hammond nodded. "Very well," he agreed._

_Cam moved into the Gateroom as the second last chevron encoded and stood at the base of the ramp as the Gate activated, connecting the wormholes. She heard the men behind her readying their weapons as they pointed them passed her at the event horizon. After a moment three figures stepped through the Gate and Cam smiled when she saw her brother followed by two other Tok'ra wearing the desert uniforms. The two other Tok'ra carried a large chest between them._

"_Samantha," he greeted Cam's sister as she stepped into the Gateroom. "Camilla."_

"_Martouf," Sam greeted him as Cam nodded._

"_Brother," she replied before she looked up at Hammond in the control room._

"_Defence team, you may stand down," Hammond's voice came over the intercom._

_Martouf smiled. "I offer you greetings from the high council of the Tok'ra," he said as he bowed slightly._

_Cam stepped forwards after she had bowed slightly back in response. "We gladly reciprocate the greetings," she said formally before they embraced. "It has been too long," she muttered quietly to him before she let go and, allowing Martouf to speak to Sam, moved to the other two Tok'ra. "Kelmaa, Ocker," she greeted them._

_The two smiled and bowed. "Host Camilla," they replied in greeting. "Tok'ra Kel'an."_

* * *

_Cam sat next to Sam while Martouf sat on the other side of the table in the briefing room. Jack sat on Cam's other side while Hammond sat the head of the table with Fraiser standing behind him._

"_Since Jacob has joined the Tok'ra, I have come to a deeper understanding of your people," Martouf said, smiling said. "Their purpose and your extraordinary gifts."_

"_Thank you," Hammond said._

_Cam smiled slightly at Teal'c as he walked passed her and sat next to Daniel who sat on Sam's other side._

"_You've shown great skill and cunning in retrieving Apophis from the hands of Sokar," Martouf continued. "However…"_

"_You know, as much as I love where you're going with this, we didn't exactly do that," Jack interrupted._

"_Our operatives aboard Sokar's vessel witnessed you leave the crash site and enter the Stargate."_

"_We received a signal with a set of co-ordinates, Martouf," Cam told him. "Until recently we had thought that the signal had come from the rest of the Tok'ra."_

_Martouf frowned. "We sent no such signal," he told them._

"_We know that now," Jack agreed._

"_Then who?"_

"_We're going to assume it was Apophis."_

_Martouf bowed his head slightly after a moment, closing his eyes before he raised his head. __**"Why would he take refuge amoung the Tau'ri?" **__Lantash asked. __**"He despises you. More than that you have nothing of use to him."**_

_Cam felt Kel'an nudge at her mind and stepped aside, allowing Lantash to see her eyes glow in response. __**"He is dying Lantash," **__Kel'an told him. __**"He wishes to take everyone here with him."**_

"_**He has taken advantage of your weakness."**_

_Kel'an growled slightly, baring her teeth. "We don't consider what we did as a sign of weakness," Sam protested._

"_**Then you are fools," **__Lantash snapped. __**"Turn him over to Sokar now. And he may spare you."**_

"'_**Fools'!" **__Kel'an snapped as she moved to her feet. __**"If you call the Tau'ri fools, then you are calling my host and I ones as well!" **__A faintly hurt expression crossed Lantash's face before Hammond spoke then._

"_We can't let him go," Hammond told him._

"_**If he remains here, you will all die," **__Lantash responded. __**"If not by the hand of Sokar, then by the many of Goa'uld who would wish to destroy Apophis themselves." **__He sighed in frustration. __**"You do not see what you have done. You have entered a battle in which you are ill equipped to fight. Tipped the balance of power amoung the Goa'uld and in doing so worsened the fortune of your entire race!"**_

"_We must know what would happen to him if we turn him over," Hammond said._

_Kel'an sighed as she returned to her seat. __**"He would be tortured like he was before we located him," **__she said._

"_**I'm certain he would be executed," **__Lantash said. __**"Eventually."**_

"_I see," Hammond commented._

_Lantash frowned. __**"Surely you welcome this," **__he said. __**"His guilt is clear. He cannot be allowed to escape punishment."**_

"_He won't," Fraiser told him. "He's dying."_

"_**You are certain of this?"**_

"_**Onak Lantash!" **__Kel'an cursed. __**"She has told you what I have already said." **__She looked at Fraiser for approval and received a nod in response. _(Translation: 'God Lantash!')

"_His body has begun to age in an increasing rate," Fraiser told him._

"_**Without a sarcophagus to rejuvenate him of course," **__Lantash explained._

"_In the short time he has remaining," Hammond said. "We may yet learn information to aid ourselves."_

"_**The knowledge and technology are too primitive for any information to be of use. Why don't you comprehend the danger you are in? We cannot defend you from the Goa'uld! You cannot expect us too!"**_

_Kel'an growled, louder this time. __**"We have not and never will ask for anyone to fight for the Tau'ri!" **__she told him angrily as she once more surged to her feet. __**"I apologise," **__she told Hammond. __**"I am afraid that will be of no further use in this meeting. If you wish to speak to me, I will in Dr. Jackson's office, translating."**_

_She turned and walked out of the room, ignoring the protests of the others as she did so. She moved quickly down the spiral stairs as she headed towards the elevator. _**I am sorry Cam,**_she apologised._

_Cam shook her head mentally as Kel'an pressed the button for Daniel's office two floors below. _Don't be,_ she said. _I don't think I could have taken any more of that.

_The elevator doors slid open a moment later and Kel'an stepped out into the corridor before she moved to Daniel's office, opening the door. She walked over to the stool Daniel had left in the room and sat on it before she pulled two Goa'uld tablets towards her._

* * *

_About five minutes later there was a knock at the door and Kel'an looked up, her pen hovering over one tablet as she continued to translate. Martouf stood in the doorway, looking._

"_May I enter?" he asked her._

_Kel'an nodded even as she let Cam take control back. Martouf stepped into the room, closing the door behind him._

"_I apologise for Lantash's behaviour," he told her. "You of all people should know how passionate he is in his opinions."_

_Cam smirked and nodded. "I know," she said. "Kel'an remembers."_

"_We would not force you and the others to do anything," he continued with a smile._

_Cam nodded again. "I know," she repeated. "I have forgiven you both. But I still cannot help but think that – as a Tau'ri saying goes – that Lantash is strong willed."_

_Martouf chuckled as he moved closer to her. "I know," he agreed as he slowly pulled her into a worried embrace. "You do see the danger do you not?"_

_Cam nodded as she hugged him back. "I see it," she agreed._

_Martouf smiled as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I feel as worried for you as I did for Al'ek despite the fact that he was my older brother," he told her._

_Cam tightened her grip for a moment. "I feel the same way," she said as they let go._

_Martouf nodded and stepped away, moving to the door and opening it, allowing the other two Tok'ra inside as they carried the large box inside. "Since you are an Ambassador for our people," he began as Cam stood up and moved closer, "the high council believed you should have some of Al'ek's belongings as well as the belongings of all of Kel'an's previous hosts."_

_Cam gingerly opened the box and saw a large pile of clothes in the middle, all of them of varying colours, sizes and types. Some of the clothes were wrapped around what she thought to be small and delicate trinkets while some of the more robust and sturdier trinkets lay next to them. A Zat'nik'tel lay on top of the clothing._

_Kelmaa bowed slightly and held out a Staff weapon to Cam who reluctantly took it into her own hands, feeling the weight. She looked at Martouf._

"_The high council gifts me with so much?" she asked him, awed._

_Martouf smiled at her. "Of course," he told her. "The belongings and clothes of Kel'an's first host are in there."_

_Cam smiled as she closed the box. "Let's get this out of Daniel's office before he returns," she said as she gripped one end firmly in her hands._

_Martouf laughed and picked up the other end, allowing for Ocker and Kelmaa to go in front of them, opening the doors and pressing the buttons that took them to Cam's sparse quarters. They moved easily in the large room that was currently empty. Ocker and Kelmaa nodded and left once Cam and Martouf had placed the box down._

_Cam shook her head, smiling. "Would you mind helping me?" she asked him as she opened it._

_Martouf smiled as he sat down on the chair in the room after he had bought it closer to the bed that Cam sat herself down upon, the large box between them._

* * *

_**35 MINUTES LATER**_

_Cam leaned against the wall in between two of the large panes of glass in the briefing room. Martouf looked out at the Gate where several of the Gate technicians now stood, hosing water onto the Iris that was still heating up._

"_The temperature in the Gateroom now reads one hundred and thirty degrees Fahrenheit," Hammond told them and the rest of SG-1. "Which means the Iris must be six or eight times that."_

"_Even if he fails to breech the Gate, he will come by ship," Martouf told them._

"_Martouf is right," Sam agreed. "What we really need to be concerned with here is another assault from space. That's exactly what we're inviting by refusing to hand Apophis over."_

"_Well, we couldn't right now even if we wanted to," Daniel said._

"_Not with Beelzebub banging at the door," Jack commented. "No."_

_Cam frowned. "Beelzebub?" she asked._

"_Another name for the name Satan," Daniel told her._

_Cam nodded. "I've informed the president of our new situation," Hammond told them. "Our new orders are to cease all medical intervention."_

"_That will effectively end his life, General," Fraiser commented, protesting slightly._

"_I'm aware of that Dr.," he apologised before he looked at SG-1. "The president and the Joint-chiefs have decided that the risks are too great not heed the Tok'ra's warning." He sighed. "Our orders are to send Apophis' body back through the Gate to the co-ordinates where you found him."_

"_Will that be sufficient to make Sokar cease his attack?" Teal'c asked._

_Cam shrugged. "Last Kel'an knew Sokar was at war with Cronus," she said._

"_Sokar is at war with Her'ur," Martouf told them, absently correcting Cam. "He wants no part of the Tau'ri for the moment, but you may have come to your senses too late." Martouf looked back into the Gateroom through the now misted glass. "He will soon burn through your Iris."_

"_Well, I've been working on a way to dial out faster," Sam said. "If we can open our Gate in the next window we should be able to send Apophis through."_

"_When is that?" Jack asked her._

_Cam looked at the watch she had taken to wearing. "Seventeen minutes," she told him._

_Hammond nodded. "Colonel," he told Jack. "Make arrangements to send Apophis back through the Gate."_

* * *

_Cam stood, looking at the aged husk of Apophis' host as he lay strapped to the bed. Daniel stood on the host's left, staying in his line of sight while Jack stood next to Cam._

"_Retzakemi," the host said. "Keneichi sa kemi. Hiemotet shiemotet."_

_Daniel nodded for a moment, translating. "He says he's been in a never ending dream," he translated. "He hoped to waken from it, to see his wife and his children."_

"_Diseche fay tah la phasib che."_

"_He was a scribe in the temple of Amun in Cardak, but that was another lifetime ago, before the… before the nightmare."_

"_Himyet faysweat kellbe fatmoon."_

"_And now he awakens only to die again," Daniel said before he started speaking once more. "Nomka yayde at tou, pom ra duaray eppia desipo, gosofka eja kemota shalpal. She akanuison. Heyho, Heyho." He sighed before he looked up at them. "I said I will speak the words of power and renew the rights. He will be returned to Egypt and buried with honour. He will pass through the seven gates and see his wife and children again and rejoice with them forever." He stood up with another sigh. "I'll be back."_

"_I'll join you," Cam said as she joined him as he walked out of the room._

* * *

_A few minutes later Cam stood at the edge of the room as Daniel stood in front of the host, Apophis the symbiote now dead._

"_Yip yall tie kie pel pou wiefou det aveou," Daniel intoned as he placed a statue in front of the host. "En ya af kyak a koomai." He sighed. "I told him this funerary statue will take this last breath and carry it back to Egypt."_

_The host smiled and nodded slightly before he took one last breath. After a few minutes Teal'c walked in as Daniel placed Apophis' cloak over the host's face._

"_Captain Carter has succeeded in creating an outgoing wormhole," he told them. "Sokar cannot attack during this time."_

_Cam nodded and stepped away, allowing him further into the room. "That's good," Jack agreed._

_Teal'c stepped up to Apophis' bedside and uncovered his face, looking upon the host before he nodded and covered it._

* * *

_Cam stood in the Gateroom with the others including the Tok'ra as Teal'c walked in, carrying Apophis' body in his arms. He walked slowly up the ramp and even slower passed Apophis' body through the Gate, keeping his own hands away from the event horizon. He supported Apophis' wrapped head before the rest of the body was pulled through the Gate. He turned and walked away from the Gate. By the time he had left the room the Gate had shut down._

_Fraiser, who had also been standing in the Gateroom, turned and left._

"_What now?" Daniel asked._

"_We wait," Jack replied._

_Cam bowed her head, allowing Kel'an control. __**"If Sokar had wished for him to be alive then he will just restart the attack," **__she said._

_Martouf shook his head. "No," he disagreed with Jack. "I don't believe he will; Sokar has a sarcophagus in his possession. With it he can revive Apophis even through death and torture him as long as he pleases." Kel'an felt her serious face turn sombre, aware that her sister, Jack's and Daniel's followed hers. "Surely a fate he justly deserves."_

"_**The symbiote does," **__Kel'an agreed. __**"But not the host. He was innocent of the charges."**_

* * *

_Cam stood in the control room and watched as Martouf looked at the keyboard before he pressed six of them, knowing that the seventh symbol was Earth. Sam looked at the co-ordinates for a moment before she nodded._

"_These are the co-ordinates we would like you to send us," he told Sam._

"_But not to anywhere we'll be able to find you," Sam replied._

_Martouf smiled. "To contact us, you may use this," he told her as he searched a pouch at his hip._

_He handed Sam a rectangular object. "That's Tollan," Daniel commented. "They used it to contact the Nox."_

_Martouf smiled again. "Yes," he replied. "We are friends of the Tollan, and we are friends of the Tau'ri."_

_Sam smiled. "Thank you," she told him._

_Jack smiled as he picked up a G.D.O. and held it out to Martouf. "Well, if we're going to be friends, you're going to need one of these," he told him as Martouf took it. "It's called a G.D.O. It sends out a signal to let us know who you are and if it's okay to open the Iris, otherwise you could end up splattered against the…" They looked out at the Stargate. "Well."_

_Martouf smiled in understanding. "I understand," he replied._

_Sam smiled. "Come on," she said. "I'll show you how it works."_

_Cam followed after Sam and Martouf into the Gateroom._

* * *

Chapter 3: Thirty-Eight Minutes Until Death

**THREE DAYS LATER**

Cam stood in the centre of the gym while Martouf stood leaning against the earthy brown walls. The floor had been designed to be hard yet slightly more yielding and springy than the normal corridors and both Cam and Martouf had warmed up over the last hour. They had spent the time fighting using the bo-staffs they had, merely testing each other's limits. Cam's bo-staff now leaned against the wall next to Martouf's on his right. Cam held her Chulak daggers, moving through familiar stances and moves as they both waited. Several days before Cam had offered the chance to spar with Teyla and knew Sheppard wanted to check out her own defence.

Now they both merely stood waiting for the two to show up. They didn't have to wait long as the doors suddenly slid open and while Teyla and Sheppard walked in they were followed by Ford, Bates and Elizabeth as well, the military men of the group wearing their full uniform with their tactical vests.

"Who sent out the invitations?" she asked. "I obviously didn't get mine."

"It's in the mail," Elizabeth told her. "We're also interested to see this."

Cam looked at Martouf who was eying Ford and Bates. "I do not have a problem with it," he agreed with a nod, startling the others.

Cam nodded as well as she rolled her shoulders, unencumbered by the base uniform's jacket as she wore a cream coloured undershirt, much like Martouf did. She wore most of the uniform, feeling the tightness of the rough cloth against her legs while Martouf kept her Tok'ra boots by his side as he held her jacket in one hand. Sheppard frowned as she backed off the mat, inverting the daggers in her hands as she neared her brother. She held them out to Martouf who took them before she moved off to one side, picking up one pair of rattan sticks with one hand while she picked up her bo-staff. She leaned casually against her bo-staff as she allowed Teyla the mat to carefully warm up. Sheppard frowned at the change of weapons.

"What's with the change of weapons?" he asked as he looked to Martouf.

"I thought it might be better to not use weapons," Cam admitted as she looked at him. "I don't wish to hurt our new allies."

"Hurt me?" Teyla asked her with a small smirk before looking at Sheppard and Elizabeth taking up Cam's challenge. "I will not harm her permanently. I promise."

Cam grinned happily at the comment, not taking it as an insult. "Finally," she muttered before passing her the pair of rattan sticks as she walked onto the mat as well. "No more sparring with Martouf!" She looked at Teyla, still smiling. "Do you want any more time to prepare?"

"It will not be necessary," Teyla told her.

"Just remember that this is a sparring match, not a proper fight," Sheppard told them. "Both of you." He warned them but was ignored as Teyla and Cam assessed each other. "Carter, do you understand me?"

Cam looked at him and nodded. "I know, Major, I'll be careful," she answered before she turned to look at the Athosian. "I wish to see how you fight against someone with a different weapon."

Teyla nodded politely before the two of them settled into two different stances, one offensive, and the other defensive. Everyone watched as the two looked at each other, silently assessing each other before Teyla attacked, swinging both rattan sticks towards Cam's unprotected torso. The Tok'ra took a step back and twisted her bo-staff into the path, blocking the attack before moving to make her own, spinning the weapon before attempting to bring it towards Teyla's legs. The Tok'ra smiled as the Athosian crouched down, settling obviously into a defensive stance as she blocked the attack.

The two paused and smiled at each other slightly, both recognising the fact that they were testing the waters before going any further. Cam shifted her grip and widened her stance for a moment before she attacked, placing the butt of her staff on the mat before she launched herself up and towards Teyla. She chuckled as the Athosian merely sank down and swung one leg out and around, catching her staff and knocking it out of the young woman's grip an onto the mat nearby.

The others watched in awe as the fight between the two sped up, seeming to anticipate the other's moves before they were made even as Cam managed to grab her staff. Martouf smiled from where he stood as Teyla managed to grab Cam's staff a few moments later before swinging it, pulling it from the Tok'ra's grip. Teyla dropped her rattan sticks and tightened her grip before swinging it towards Cam's exposed throat.

Cam raised her hands, nodded and smiled genially in defeat. "It has been a while since I was bettered by someone who was not a Tok'ra," she said as Teyla looked at her for a moment before she nodded back and pulled the bo-staff back.

"You are a good opponent," Teyla responded as she passed the bo-staff back to her before she crouched down and picked up the rattan sticks.

Cam took them easily though she winced at the pain at the left side of her hip where Teyla had managed to rap her with one of her sticks during the fight. "You feeling alright there Carter?" Sheppard asked as the two walked off of the mat while Kel'an quickly numbed the pain.

Cam nodded as she grabbed her Tok'ra boots and pulled them on while she stood. "Perfect Major," she told him. "I can't feel a thing."

She took the daggers Martouf offered her and quickly strapped them to her legs where the holsters lay. There was a smile on her face as she turned to Teyla and walked over to her. They spoke for a short while between themselves before they both smiled and nodded.

* * *

**TWO HOURS LATER, WRAITH PLANET**

Martouf crouched down behind Sheppard as he carefully swung his Staff weapon over his shoulders, using the rough rope to hold it close against his back, his holster lying in his quarters. He closed his eyes, allowing Lantash to enhance his eyes, before he opened them again and looked at the large crater in the ground a few good yards in front of him while Sheppard looked through his field binoculars. He heard the man lift his head in shock.

"Shit," he heard him mutter as he looked back through his binoculars.

Lantash blinked his eyes rapidly, feeling Lantash removing the enhancements before he looked at the others. "Are you sure that's where it was, sir?" Ford asked him with a sceptical tone.

"Yes Lieutenant." Sheppard rolled his eyes.

"It's a hole, sir." Martouf could hear the grin in Ford's voice.

"It's a new one," he corrected absently. "Whatever it was took off."

"Took off, like a big tank?" Ford asked.

"You mean the mountain was a ship?" McKay asked from his place behind him.

Martouf turned slightly to look at the Canadian. "You tell me Dr. McKay, you are the intelligent one," he teased, using one of Cam's favourite retorts. "How else could mountain vanish?

"Could it have been destroyed?" Teyla asked them.

"That's definitely not a blast crater," Ford put in proving that he did know _something _about explosives.

"He's right, Major," Martouf grudgingly agreed. "There isn't any damage to the surrounding trees other than the superficial. If that crater is anything to go by, something that large _should _have knocked down all the trees for at least a quarter mile in all direction."

McKay smiled slightly at him. "You've been taking lessons from Sam haven't you?" he asked.

Martouf shook his head. "You know I spent two years with the Asgard?" McKay nodded in understanding. "I saw some… intriguing… stuff in my time as a host."

"A ship then?" Sheppard asked, interrupting the two before they could get any further.

"I don't know, Sir," Ford admitted. "It was covered in trees."

"Yeah, but the Wraith hibernate for centuries, right?" Sheppard asked Teyla, turning to look at her. "So a lot of trees could have overgrown it in that time."

"Then we were held prisoner inside one of the great ships I showed you in the drawings," Teyla replied as she continued to look at the crater. "They've left to begin culling worlds."

Martouf winced before he allowed his eyes to wander, catching sight of a group of Wraith in the trees a few moments later. "Shit!" he swore as the trees moved and the Wraith started firing at them. "We've got Wraith!"

Martouf allowed Lantash control of his body as he ducked behind the large tree they were sitting behind as a white energy shot passed them and hit a large tree behind them. They all watched as the energy was absorbed and dissipated into the tree.

"Time to go," Sheppard told them.

Martouf could only nod as they got up and moved through the trees while he quickly pulled his staff weapon off. They got separated along the way when Sheppard paused to give covering fire and Lantash, still in control of Martouf's body, roughly took McKay's upper arm, using his Tok'ra strength to get the man to follow him. Soon after, Sheppard was separated from them when he paused once more.

"Major Sheppard, what's your position?" he asked as he tapped the headset he wore. He got no response as he turned to the other three. "Get back to the Jumper. If we are not there in five minutes then get off the ground and return for us later." He quickly tapped his radio off.

Teyla looked ready to argue but Martouf had already turned his back on them. "Yes sir!" he heard Ford reply, knowing better than to argue with him.

He moved carefully down the path they had taken to the Jumper in case there were Wraith in the trees around her. Sheppard was staggering through the forest, moving from tree to tree weakly when Martouf came across him. He paused mid-stride when the man weakly raised his P-90 at him. He waited until he recognised him before he moved forward to help him.

"What is that?" Martouf asked as he pulled his left arm around his shoulders when he had seen a large bug-like insect the size of small puppy attached the man's throat.

"Let's just get out of here before the Wraith catch up to us," Sheppard muttered before he groaned as a wave of pain swept over him.

Martouf nodded as he gripped the man around his middle, taking some of his weight before he started retracing the path to the Jumper he had taken. As the minutes ticked by both Martouf and Lantash became increasing aware of the fact that more than the five minutes had passed as well as the fact that the Tok'ra was now almost completely carrying the younger man.

"I'm not leaving you here, Major Sheppard," he told him. "You want McKay to be in charge of all of this?" He picked up his pace slightly, hearing the man groan in pain at the increased pace as he neared the end of the path.

They soon entered the clearing where the Jumper had been parked and cloaked. Martouf started when he saw the Jumper de-cloak as Ford came charging towards them, holding his P-90 in front of him with one hand. He carefully took Sheppard's other arm around his shoulders, allowing Martouf to pick up the pace even more as they literally carried the Major inside the Jumper, his feet skimming on the ramp. Martouf carefully let go of Sheppard as McKay shut the ramp, hitting the switch as Martouf moved into the front cabin.

"Markham, get us away here!" he ordered before he felt the Jumper take a few hits. Markham nodded as he lifted the ship up and into the air.

Martouf frowned as he felt the ship shudder as it took to the sky when it was hit again with more shots from the Wraith outside. He grunted, feeling the ship slow slightly.

He looked over his shoulder as he stood between Markham and Stackhouse who sat in the co-pilot's seat. He saw Sheppard propped up against the rear hatch, his body convulsing slightly in pain as Ford slipped his army knife back into its holster. He could easily see the animal still attached to Sheppard's throat.

_**It is a large, glorified insect, **_Lantash commented.

Martouf nodded as he looked at the Stargate that he could see in the distance, floating in space about a light-year away. He jumped suddenly when the sound of the gunshot went off followed quickly by a long, pained scream. He turned around, his hand moving to his Zat'nik'tel strapped to his leg before he saw Sheppard writhing slightly against the ramp, McKay and Teyla holding his arms and legs down, pain clear on his face as he bit on a piece of cloth that had been hastily torn from something else.

He moved into the back compartment, slapping Stackhouse gently on the shoulder as he did so. He crouched down in front of Sheppard as both Teyla and McKay continued to hold onto Sheppard as his writhing lessened.

"It fed on the Major's life and healed itself," Teyla told him, not need to be asked what happened.

"Like a Wraith does?" he asked, confused slightly.

"Indeed."

_**It seems the likes of Teal'c's 'Indeed' are more prolific than Camilla and Kel'an had originally thought, **_Lantash absently commented.

"Damn!" he muttered before she looked at Ford. "Ford, dial the gate and tell Atlantis to have Carson ready in the Jumper bay."

"Yes sir." The Marine sounded ashamed and Martouf reassured him with a smile, knowing she would have done the same thing.

He crouched down beside Sheppard when he had stopped writhing and pulled his Zat'nik'tel out and grabbed the butt of it before he removed the cloth from Sheppard's mouth. He held the Zat carefully in his hand, not touching the activating button before he gingerly lifted the bug, getting a closer look at the body; it had a soft, brownish, lower part that pulsed in and out as it obviously fed off of Sheppard while the body was covered by what seemed to be a hard black armour and possibly wings as four long legs were wrapped around Sheppard's neck with its mouth pressed close to his jugular. There was a tail-like think wrapped under his right armpit and it seemed to be close to two feet in length.

"Get this damn thing off of me, Martouf!" Sheppard ordered him.

"We can't," Teyla told him while Martouf ignored his order and continued to look at the bug.

"Cut it off!" Sheppard looked at Martouf. "That's an order."

"No, sir," Martouf refused the order. "You're no longer in command of this mission. We harm it; it takes from you, simple as that. We are not doing anything to it while I am in command."

"There must be something we can do for him!" Teyla asserted desperately.

"There's a first aid kit behind the pilot's seat," McKay joined in from beside Martouf as he crouched to study the creature while the Tok'ra held it up for him. "Go get it."

Teyla stood up and left returning half a minute later with the green, fabric box.

"_Atlantis Base, this is Ford. Jumper One is inbound with a medical emergency. Please respond."_ Ford's voice sounded from Martouf's earpiece and through the Jumper doors at the same time.

"_**This is Atlantis, what is the medical emergency?"**_ Martouf didn't recognise the voice but she was the one to respond.

"This is Tok'ra host Martouf," he said. "Major Sheppard has a leech that is slowly killing him."

He and Lantash both shared a distinct hatred of people that asked what was wrong when it was clear. They both blamed it on his years amoung the Tok'ra that had always known what happened before they had even spoken. The sound of McKay beginning to shift through the contents of the first aid bag brought him back out as Teyla told the Canadian to search for something for the pain. All through this Sheppard just stared at Martouf with desperate, pain filled, eyes while Ford took over then.

"Don't worry, Major," he told the Major. "I've seen worse creatures than this when I was many years younger than you. This thing has a weak spot; we just have to find it." He fought the shudder that rose of the rebel Reetou and how the Wraith might react to them.

"How much longer?" Teyla yelled to Ford.

"Almost there!" he yelled back before his voice switch to the radio as well. "Jumper One on final approach."

"_**This is Weir, what is the nature of Major Sheppard's injury?"**_ Elizabeth's voice asked and Ford looked around at Martouf who stood.

The Tok'ra nodded before he lowered his head, allowing Lantash control as he lifted his head, their eyes glowing for a moment. **"An Alien leech like bug has attached itself to his neck, Dr. Weir,"** Lantash reported.

"_**What's it doing to him?"**_ Elizabeth asked him.

"**We are not yet sure, but we cannot move it," **he replied. **"Everything that we try hurts the Major."**

"_**You understand the risk of bringing something like that back to Atlantis?"**_ Elizabeth asked.

"**We do," **he replied resolutely. **"But a Tok'ra does not willingly leave others behind. You only have to ask my sister to know this is true!"**

"_**Understood, Lantash. Martouf, good luck," **_she told him before the line went dead.

"Here we go." Ford warned them just as they reached the gate.

Martouf turned to face Major Sheppard just as they entered the wormhole but half way through the trip the ship lurched violently and instantly came to a standstill. Even with his above average balance and reflexes Lantash couldn't prevent himself from going flying. His head arrested his fall as it slammed into the side of the door to the front cabin now immersed in the wormhole.

* * *

**A FEW MINUTES BEFORE**

Cam raced towards the control room as soon as she heard the alarms blaring, signalling off-world Gate activation. She raced through the halls of Atlantis before she ran up the stairs of the Gateroom, seeing the wormhole had been connected before she had gotten there and headed quickly into the control room where Elizabeth stood by a Gate technician, worry on her face.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Elizabeth glanced at the Gate technician next to her. "The reconnaissance team is reporting a medical emergency," he told her quietly as Elizabeth spoke. "Major Sheppard is the injured party." Cam nodded as she looked at Elizabeth before she heard Lantash speak, his voice echoing through the Control room's speakers.

"_**We are not yet sure, but we cannot move it,"**_he said. _**"Everything that we try hurts the Major."**_

"You understand the risk of bringing something like that back to Atlantis?" Elizabeth asked him carefully as she looked at Cam.

"_**We do,"**_he replied resolutely. _**"But a Tok'ra does not willingly leave others behind. You only have to ask my sister to know this is true!"**_

Elizabeth looked at Cam again who nodded in response. "Understood, Lantash," she said. "Martouf, good luck." She deactivated her radio before she turned to look at one Marine.

"Quarantine the Jumper Bay!" she ordered him.

The Marine nodded in answer before he hurried off. Cam sighed as she and Elizabeth moved to the railing and looked over it at the Gate that stood below. After a few terse moments the older woman turned to look at the technician.

"Where are they?" she asked him.

The technician shrugged in response. "I don't know," he replied. "The Gate's still activated. All indications read they should be through by now."

"They aren't!" Cam snarled at him as Elizabeth turned to look back at the Gate, a distinctly concerned expression on her face. "Elizabeth?" Cam asked her.

She shook her head slightly before she looked at Cam. "I'm sorry?" she asked her.

"Are you alright?" Cam asked.

Elizabeth nodded. "I'm just worried."

Cam smiled at her gently. "Now you know how I feel about my brother," she said. "Worry. Complete and utter worry."

* * *

Lantash figured later he must have blacked out for a second before he opened his eyes with a view of the event horizon an inch from his face and his head against the floor. He instinctively sat up and scrabbled backwards away from it and pulled himself to his knees just as Teyla appeared in front of him.

"Lantash?" she asked worriedly. "Are you alright?"

"**Ouch." **He groaned as he realised that he had injured his host's skull, possibly a fracture. **"I'm fine**." He looked around and saw Ford's hand and shoulder just outside of the event horizon and he and Teyla reacted as one and grabbed him, pulling him back through into the rear section.

Ford shot up when he was mostly through, only gaining his feet when they came through as well. "Whoa!" He fidgeted for a moment, shaking his hands and dusting the front of his tactical vest, probably to get rid of a residual sensation. "Are you alright?" he asked as he looked at Lantash.

Lantash frowned for a moment before he carefully reached a hand up to his forehead. He winced slightly when he reached his hairline, feeling a slight dip in the bone before a large cut that followed his hair line for a short distance towards his left ear before cutting across his cheek.

"**I will be fine Lieutenant Ford," **he responded as he quickly searched for Martouf's mental presence that told him he was awake only to find him unconscious. **"Though my host seems to have been knocked unconscious."**

Ford nodded before he looked at McKay. "What happened?"

"The drive pods," McKay told him with a worried face which spoke more about their current dilemma than any words would ever be able to. "The wing things that stick out when we are flying," he explained for Teyla and Ford's benefit. "They must have failed to retract. That's the only thing that it could be. Well, it's that or... the Stargate shrank, which I highly doubt. This is a big problem."

"Martouf was knocked out by the impact," Teyla pointed out before heading off to check on him.

"Can we pull Markham and Stackhouse out?" Ford asked.

"Our hands would dematerialise as soon as they passed the event horizon." McKay sighed before he remembered something. "Is there a manual way to retract the drive pods?"

Lantash frowned as he leaned forwards slightly and accessed the memories that Martouf had of the Jumpers before he shook his head. **"There is nothing in this compartment that would be of any use to use," **he said. **"I am sorry. They are all in the front compartment."**

"Which is unfortunately dematerialised at the moment." McKay sighed.

"**Nothing's that easy, McKay."** He smiled for a moment before he stopped, the cut having been pulled wider slightly by the action.

"_**Jumper One, this is Weir."**_ Lantash almost jumped having forgotten that they'd be expecting them. _**"What's your status?"**_

Lantash sighed as she rubbed absently at her head. **"Dr. Weir, this is Tok'ra symbiote Lantash. Jumper one is lodged in the event horizon of the Stargate with Sergeants Stackhouse and Markham in the front section and while myself, Rodney, Teyla, Lieutenant Ford, Major Sheppard and my host in the rear section. The Major's unconscious as is Martouf."**

"_**How did that happen?"**_ another voice asked, shocked. It sounded like Camilla.

Lantash understood how she felt, knowing that the approach of the Jumper to the Stargate was nearly completely automated, he did sigh with relief at having heard Martouf's sister for a moment. **"We have reason to believe that it's one of the engine pods, or both of them Camilla, Dr. Weir." **He sighed as she quickly fought down the wave of nausea that rose.** "One of them took damage on the way out off of the planet and hasn't retracted properly."**

"It's the only viable possibility," McKay said, putting in his two cents from where he was stood behind Lantash, near Sheppard.

"_**If I understand you correctly you won't be able to access the flight controls?"**_ Elizabeth asked.

Lantash opened his mouth to speak, only to groan as an unexpected wave of nausea overwhelmed him before he could clamp down on it. He felt his body reeling slightly and felt McKay and Ford grab him in an attempt to steady him.

"Sir, forgive me, but I think you need to sit down," Ford told him.

"**I am fine, Ford,"** he countered but a wave of dizziness hit him, forcing him to reluctantly accede to Ford's orders.

He slowly sat down, on an empty seat next to the compartment doors, allowing both Ford and McKay to lead him to it. _**"Lantash, are you still there?" **_Camilla asked, worried.

"Ms. Carter, Dr. Weir, this is Lieutenant Ford," Ford spoke up when he had made sure she wasn't going to move. "We can't access the forward controls."

"_**Where's Lantash?"**_

"**I am still here," **Lantash called to her, raising his voice slightly before he winced at the level of noise.

"Lantash and his host struck the bulkhead," Teyla explained carefully as she sat beside the Tok'ra and wiped away the oozing blood to get a closer look. "They have a serious cut on their forehead which is bleeding rather heavily." Lantash winced when Teyla pressed at his forehead where some of the blood had already dried and crusted.

"**It looks like Martouf has a fracture Dr. Weir," **Lantash reported as Teyla gently took his head and moved it so that the Athosian could see it clearer in the dim light. **"He might have a concussion as well, but I cannot tell."**

"_**Take it easy Lantash," **_Elizabeth ordered.

Lantash nodded his head in acknowledgement of her order despite the fact he would have preferred to have taken it when the Jumper wasn't in danger of being cut in half.

"As worried as we are over the Tok'ra's head and we all know I'd _love _to talk about the possibilities of what has caused our sudden stop," McKay began, "right up until the Stargate shuts down and we're cut in half –!"

"_**Rodney, calm down." **_It was Camilla again.

"At which point of course –!"

"_**RODNEY!"**_ That seemed to silence McKay as his jaw hung open in shock as Elizabeth responded then. _**"If I'm going to be any help to you at all, I need to catch up. Lieutenant Ford, back it up for me."**_

Lantash winced once more as Teyla wiped, once last time, at his cut, following it down to his cheek before she held out a plaster. "How do I apply this?" she asked.

Lantash smiled at her as he gently took the plaster and opened it, tearing open the small pack to reveal the tan plaster. He gingerly removed the flexible plastic and handed it back to Teyla, bending his head towards the Athosian, allowing her easier access. Teyla smiled as she carefully placed the plaster over the worst of the cut.

"She hardly meant from the beginning!" McKay snapped irritably at Ford, startling Lantash

"This is intel she needs to know," Ford replied calmly.

"And we have less than thirty-eight minutes," McKay retorted as he looked at his watch.

"_**Hold on!" **_Elizabeth said, cutting both McKay and Ford off. _**"Why thirty-eight minutes?"**_

Lantash sighed. **"Because that is the maximum amount of time a Stargate in the Milky Way could stay open in non-relativistic conditions," **he replied, thankful to have spent time with Samantha and Camilla back on Earth. **"Since the Stargate's were constructed by the Ancients, it stands to reason that that would be the same here in the Pegasus galaxy."**

"It's one of the more immutable laws of wormhole physics, and oh my look at the time!" McKay continued, sniping as he looked at his watch. "It's now more like thirty-five minutes. Are we all caught up?"

"_**I get it," **_Elizabeth replied. _**"What do you need?"**_

"Help," McKay said simply, his anger leaving him.

"_**Alright," **_Elizabeth agreed. _**"Let me put Kavanagh, Grodin and Simpson in a room; see what they come up with."**_

"That's good," McKay agreed as well. "And the Czech, the Czech, um, the Czech whose name I can never remember."

"_**Doctor Zelenka?"**_

"That's him! We'll work at it our end."

"_**What else?"**_

"We'll call you, thank you," McKay said as he started to reach for his headset.

"_**I'll join the brains and see if I can help them come up with viable ideas," **_Cam told them.

Lantash nodded. **"Thank you."**

* * *

Cam stayed leaning against the balcony for a moment before she stood up and turned, making to go to the conference room before she saw Carson walking towards her.

"Where's my patient?" he asked her.

Cam sighed as she turned the Scottish man around and gently began to push him towards the short stairs and landing that led to the conference room. "There's been a problem," she told him. "Conference room."

"Oh nae!"

He said it in such a tone that Cam couldn't help but smile as he walked on his own, seeming to race to the conference room as Cam turned to look at Elizabeth who was talking quickly with one of the technicians. After a moment the alarms cut off before Elizabeth walked with her.

* * *

**A FEW MINUTES LATER**

Lantash leaned back where he sat in the Jumper, feeling his head pounding even as he continued to heal the damage slowly. He had managed to stop the bleeding in the wound a short while before. He had moved onto the skull damage, wanting to get it out of the way before he started worrying about how his host would look. Ford looked at him curiously even as he stood facing the event horizon.

"Are you sure you're alright sir?" he asked.

Lantash nodded at him as he sat back up. **"My head is still pounding," **he admitted. **"Concussions are tricky things to heal."**

"We could send you and your host into the event horizon," he said. "It would stop any of the damage from getting any worse."

Lantash saw the man's logic in it but he shook his head, smiling slightly. **"If McKay and the others in Atlantis are not able to figure out a way to save us, sending me into the event horizon would kill me," **he told him, **"I would cease to exist when the thirty-eight minutes are up."**

Ford nodded and looked at McKay, pulling him into a conversation as Lantash stood shakily up and moved over to Teyla where she was slowly looking through the first aid kit. Teyla looked up at him, frowning when Lantash sat down opposite her.

"Should you not be resting your host's body?" she asked.

Lantash shrugged at her. **"Maybe," **he admitted. **"But I will rest easier knowing that I wouldn't have sat around, twiddling my thumbs waiting for death to come and greet me." **He smiled slightly at Teyla's confused look. **"It is an Earth idiom I learnt," **he explained. **"Do you want some help?"**

Teyla smiled at him as she pushed the bag closer to him, allowing him to reach it easily.

They were working like that for a few minutes before a voice broke the strained silence. "Hi, Teyla," he heard a weak voice call out and Lantash turned slightly to look at Sheppard who was looking at Teyla, having seen her first.

Teyla stood up and moved to his right side, resting her hand on his shoulder, away from the bug.

"Are you alright?" Sheppard asked and Teyla seemed to blink at him asking the question.

Lantash smiled slightly, recognising the innate worry most team-leaders had for the rest under their command. It reminded him of General O'Neill when Selmak had first begun to blend with Jacob Carter.

"I'm fine," the Athosian replied.

Sheppard looked down at the bug still attached to his throat before he looked up at Teyla. "Something tells me we haven't made it to Atlantis yet," he commented.

"No," Teyla agreed before she sighed.

Sheppard looked at her for a moment before he looked at the event horizon that was in the front cab, near the doors. Lantash turned his head and saw Ford and McKay talking to each other as they stood on either side of the bulkhead. Ford stopped and McKay turned slightly to see Sheppard.

"Ford?" Sheppard asked and the young Marine moved and sat down beside him, putting his hand on his shoulder. "What is that?"

"We're stuck sir," Ford told him.

"What?"

"In the Gate," Ford corrected himself.

"You mean my day just got worse?" Sheppard asked before his eyes moved to Lantash, widening slightly at the cut that moved across his cheek. "What happened to you Martouf?"

Lantash smiled slightly and let his head rest on the seat behind him before he lifted it again. **"I am not Martouf, Major," **he replied. **"I am Lantash and it seems that Martouf managed to hit his head on the bulkhead doors when the Jumper lurched."**

"We're going with the assumption that it was one or both of the drive pods," McKay said. "I don't know whether it was mechanical failure or…"

"It was damaged as we tried to take off," Ford finished for him before he quickly refilled in the Major.

"You know of some way of manually retracting the mechanism?" McKay asked Sheppard when Ford had finished.

Sheppard seemed to think for a moment before he nodded. "Cockpit," he replied. "On the left."

McKay turned to look at the front cab and looked at the event horizon before he turned back to look at Sheppard. "The cockpit is, uh," he said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at the event horizon. "Uh, regrettably demolecularised at the moment. But, uh how about somewhere back here?"

Sheppard shook his head slightly, wincing in pain for a moment. "No."

McKay sighed. "No," he copied. "I didn't think so. Well, if you'll excuse me, I'll be a foot and half over there taking some readings." He pointed to the other side of the Jumper. "Feel free to talk amongst yourselves." He stood up and pulled down one datapad.

Sheppard nodded as Ford stood up, gently patting his shoulder.

* * *

Cam stood bent over a large table, looking over various schematics for the Puddle Jumpers in the main conference room of Atlantis, the only room big enough to house to so many people safely. Her eyes scanned the plans deeply, trying to find a switch or any way to manually retract the drive pods.

_You found anything?_

Kel'an shook her head. _**Not a thing, but I'm on the surface right now, **_she replied. _**I'll go deeper in a minute here and see if I can find anything.**_

Cam nodded slightly. _Alright, _she replied. _Let me know as soon as you get something._

The Tok'ra didn't receive a reply as she felt her symbiote dive into her memories, gently shouldering the modern ones in order to get to the Ancient memories. Cam moved her head slightly as she elbowed at some of the more painful memories to the surface for a moment.

"Alright, you've all been briefed!" Elizabeth's voice called out as she walked into the room, pausing near the doorway. "We have less than half an hour." Cam lifted her head and watched as Elizabeth looked around for a moment. "Where's Dr. Zelenka?"

"He's working up a simulation in Puddle Jumper Two," Kavanagh, an American scientist, spoke up. "He went straight there."

Cam nodded slightly as she stood up straight, stretching her back before she turned around and leaned slightly against the table. "That's good," Elizabeth commented.

"If there was time, it would be," Kavanagh continued.

"Don't admit defeat yet Kavanagh," Cam told him gently. "Major Sheppard is on that transport and I'm almost certain that everyone wants him back here as well as the five others."

Kavanagh looked like he was about to protest at her comment but Carson raised his hand, gaining his attention.

"I'm just a medical doctor here, so forgive me if this is a stupid question," he began when everyone was looking at him. "If they just stepped through the event horizon, wouldn't they come through the front part of the ship when the Gate shuts down?"

"The front half won't re-materialise on this side," Kavanagh told him.

"The Stargate transmits matter in discrete units," Grodin continued as he turned around from the computer he had managed to get working on projected 3d scenarios. "The front half of the ship cannot re-materialise until the whole ship has crossed into the event horizon. The Stargate is essentially waiting for the contiguous components - meaning the Jumper and everyone inside - to enter completely before it can transport them."

Cam smiled slightly as he looked at Grodin blankly for a moment before he looked at Elizabeth. "He said the Gate only send things through in one piece," she clarified.

"Right." Carson blushed slightly in embarrassment. "Sorry."

Cam shook her head. "Don't worry about it," she told him. "Ideally if we were in the Milky Way, they'd be able to do that." She saw the confused looks she received. "Ernst Little? Anubis' weapon that destroyed the Gate? Radio conversations?" Everyone looked at her blankly. Cam sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose for a moment.

_Have these people even read the reports from the first few years? _she asked Kel'an warily.

She felt Kel'an shrug. _**I doubt it, considering the blank looks you're receiving, **_she replied.

"What about the others?" Elizabeth asked generally.

"The ship will be severed instantaneously along the event horizon," Grodin told her as Cam moved her head slightly again. "They'll be exposed to hard vacuum," he looked at his watch, "in twenty nine minutes."

"What if they closed the bulkhead door?" another scientist asked as they pointed to a part of a paper plan.

"The rear portion of the ship would remain pressurised, become a sort of lifeboat," Elizabeth said as she looked at Cam.

She nodded in response. "It would be like oxygen through a sieve though," she said.

"It could buy enough time to send a second Jumper," the other scientist continued.

"And do what?" Kavanagh demanded.

"Figure it out!" Elizabeth said before she looked at Grodin. "Contact Jumper One and make the recommendation."

Grodin nodded as he shot out of his seat and out of the room, heading towards the Control room. After a moment Cam followed after him.

* * *

Lantash sighed as his head rested against the seat behind him, the pain he had been experiencing was now numbed to a dull ache that had taken him the minutes since he had woken up to get rid of. McKay was sitting on one side of the bulkhead while Ford sat on the other while Teyla was crouched down next to Sheppard, carefully cleaning his face of the sweat that was building up on his face. The Tok'ra frowned when he heard McKay move suddenly and turned his head slightly to see the Canadian get up and press a button on Ford's side of the Jumper.

The bulkhead doors closed with a quite hush, plunging the entire rear compartment into darkness. "What are you doing?" Ford's voice rang out.

"Sorry," McKay said before a beam of light shone out from where he stood. "Here."

"_**Jumper One, this is Atlantis," **_Camilla's voice called out.

"Still here," McKay said after he had tapped his radio.

"_**The other scientists here have come up with an idea," **_she said. _**"Current recommendations are for you to close the bulkhead door."**_

"Oh, good thinking!" McKay said sarcastically. "What else?"

Martouf took a torch that Teyla had gotten for him after she herself had stood up. **"Thank you," **he told her as he quickly switched it on.

"_**They're still working on the problem McKay," **_Camilla told the scientist. _**"They aren't you!" **_She seemed to sigh. _**"We'll get back to you. Atlantis base out."**_

"Thanks for calling," McKay said, sounding a bit apologetic as Lantash heard the younger Tok'ra cut the main connection. McKay looked at the others in the compartment. "Anyone else claustrophobic or is it, uh, just me?"

"Why'd you close the door?" Ford asked him instead.

"So that when the Stargate shuts down, and the forward section is severed," McKay began carefully, "we're not directly exposed to space."

"Will it hold?"

"**It will hold like a silk screen door on a submarine," **Lantash told him, forcing the Marine to look at him as the Tok'ra lifted his head weakly. **"Not very well for not very long," **he clarified.

"I just prefer hypoxia to explosive decompression," McKay continued conversationally. "It's a… It's a personal thing."

"If the air's gonna get thin in here, you really do have to calm down," Ford said as he turned back to look at the scientist.

"Oh yeah?" McKay asked him. "Wait 'til you see how thin it gets in twenty seven minutes."

"McKay…" Lantash barely heard Sheppard speak as he turned his head to look at him.

"Vacuum!" McKay continued. "That's thin!"

"Knock it off!" Sheppard had raised his voice slightly, but it was strained slightly.

"Oh, I apologise for being the only person who truly comprehends how screwed we are!" McKay was starting to sound angry and little hysterical.

"Don't talk to me about screwed," Sheppard told him angrily, lowering his voice slightly as he glared at him. "And let's not give up on Markham and Stackhouse either. There's still plenty of time to solve this thing, but you've got to stop using your mouth and start using your brain."

McKay nodded and sighed. "I'm sorry," he said. "It's just, um, I react to certain doom a certain way. It's a bad way and… and… Maybe there's a way to manually retract the mechanism."

"Yeah," Sheppard said after a moment. "Maybe there is."

Lantash nodded as McKay grabbed a panel in the ceiling and pulled it down, revealing an organised tray of crystals. Teyla moved over to Sheppard as she folded her jacket.

"Here," she said as he helped keep his head forwards enough so that she could place the now pillow-like jacket behind his head so he could lean back comfortably without straining his neck further. "You seem stronger," she commented a moment later when she crouched down next to him.

Sheppard shook his head slightly, wincing in pain. "No," he told her. "It's just the pain's not so back now."

"That's good," Ford commented happily.

Sheppard shook his head again. "No, it isn't," he continued. "I can't feel my legs. My hands and arms are numb." He groaned after a moment. "I can barely move them, and it's creeping up." Ford stepped closer, stepping carefully over Lantash's legs. "Lookit, Lieutenant." He sighed. "What I'm trying to say is that if you don't get this damn thing off me, I have even less time than you do."

* * *

Cam rushed into the control room when she had heard that Carson had been asked to speak with the others. She slowed when she reached the control panel in front of Carson. He smiled at her slightly as he nodded, listening to something Sheppard was telling him.

"Can you describe it to me?" he asked after a moment.

Cam tapped her own radio headset, linking in. _"Yes sir," _Ford replied. _"It's about two feet in length, including the tail. That's wrapped down under his armpit." _There was a pause as he seemed to look at something. _"It's got two sharp, spiny things in his neck near the Major's carotid artery."_

"I'll need more than that, son," Carson told him gently.

"_**It has forelegs Dr. Beckett," **_Lantash spoke then, his voice sounding slightly distant, almost like he wasn't as close to a radio headset. _**"They are wrapped around the Major's throat. Lieutenant Ford spoke to me earlier, saying that there weren't any discernable eyes."**_

"_It has a real hard shell, but there's a soft leechy part underneath."_

Carson nodded as he made a quick mental image. "Major," he said. "What are your physical symptoms?"

"_Well, first it felt like a knife in the eye," _Sheppard told him. _"Since then I've lost all the feelings in my extremities." _He seemed to suppress a groan. _"I can't move."_

"So it incapacitates first with pain," Cam said, startling the others judging from the Goa'uld curse she heard Lantash call out. "Then paralysis."

Carson nodded as he took in the information first. _"I need to be able to move around to help McKay with the mechanical problem," _Sheppard said. "_Markham and Stackhouse are dead if I don't."_

"What have you tried?"

"_I tried to cut it off," _Ford replied. _"I tried to burn it off. I even tried to shoot it off – nine mil', point blank," _he clarified. _"Not much worse I can do without killing the Major along with it."_

"_I believe the creature is related in some way to the Wraith," _Teyla spoke up.

"How so?" Carson asked.

"_It healed itself after each attempt to remove it by sapping life from Major Sheppard, just as a Wraith would."_

There was a pause as the others seemed to speak for a moment before Ford groaned. _"Listen doc," _he said. _"The Major's getting wrose. We've got to do something now."_

"Is he running a fever?" Cam asked.

"_No, he is quite cold," _Teyla replied.

"Lan'? Can you get close enough to lay a hand on his forehead or even a hand, warm him up that way?" Cam asked the other Tok'ra. "I remember that our bodies run at a slightly higher temp than others."

"_**Of course," **_Lantash spoke as they heard him stand and move over to Sheppard. _**"This should help Major."**_

* * *

Cam sighed as she stood next to Carson in the Infirmary. She had stopped working with the scientists earlier after when Kavanagh had made his opinion of the rescue attempt clear.

"You ready for this lass?" he asked her as they pulled out everything that the Jumper had in the back compartment. "You don't have to be here."

Cam nodded as she pulled out a defibrillator. "I need to be here, if not for me," she said. "For Martouf."

Carson nodded as he activated his radio, connecting to Ford in the Jumper. Cam nodded as she activated her own radio.

"You there Lan'?" she asked.

"_**I am here," **_he replied, his voice sounding stronger, like he had managed to get his own headset.

"_We're starting with iodine," _Ford spoke, breaking into the conversation.

Cam nodded and crossed her fingers hopefully, aware that Carson was standing painfully straight as he waited as well. There was a quiet trilling noise in the background before someone in the Jumper sighed.

"_**You may ignore iodine," **_Lantash told them. _**"It has not worked."**_

Cam nodded and looked quickly through contents in front of her before she picked up the small bottle of iodine. She looked around for a moment before she placed it on an empty, nearby, table.

"What else have you got there?" Carson asked.

There was a pause. _"You're kidding!" _Ford exclaimed, obviously not speaking to them. There was another pause. _"We're going to try alcohol now."_

Carson nodded. "Place a few drops on the soft tissue to see how it reacts," he told the Marine.

"_Save some for me," _Sheppard spoke out, his voice sounding distant as if he wasn't too close to a headset.

"_Wrong type of alcohol, sir," _Ford told him.

"_What's the good of that?"_

There was a quiet trilling in the background as Cam listened for anything. _"Not much sir," _Ford told Sheppard before he sighed. _"No reaction to alcohol."_

Cam grabbed the alcohol and placed it onto the table while Carson nodded and sighed. "Right," he said. "What next?"

"_Did the doctor not say to pour salt on the creature?" _Teyla asked.

There was a sound in the background as someone spoke, too far away for the headsets to pick up the noise. Cam looked at Carson and frowned. The Scottish doctor placed a hand over the microphone by his mouth.

"It's a type of leech lass," he told her. "You get leeches off with salt."

Cam nodded in understanding and Carson removed his hand. There was the sound of sprinkling or pouring before Ford sighed.

"_Water," _he said after a moment. _"Give me water."_

Cam frowned as she closed her eyes and listened to the sound of pouring.

"_**Major?" **_Lantash asked. _**"Major, are you alright?"**_

Cam jumped when she heard screaming echoing through the connection.

"_Sir, are you alright?" _It was Ford asking this time. _"Major? Major? What's happening?"_

Cam frowned again as she listened hard, forcing herself to listen around Sheppard's screams. She heard two of the others grab hold of Sheppard as he obviously writhed in pain. There was a loud sound of an impact suddenly that had Cam jumping again.

_**That better not be what I thought it was, **_Kel' groaned.

_I agree, _Cam replied.

"_**It could have been the salt or the water it reacted to," **_Lantash spoke then, after a few moments of pained silence.

"Or the combination of both," Carson agreed. "Did it loosen its hold on Major Sheppard?"

There was a pause as there was a sound of two or more people scrabbling for something. _"Negative," _Ford replied.

"_If anything, it dug in more," _Teyla expanded.

"_Please," _Sheppard whimpered quietly. _"Don't do that again."_ Cam felt her heart constrict in sympathy for the man and the pain he was going through.

"_**We shall not Major," **_Lantash told him gently. _**"I promise."**_

Carson had frowned as he thought of something. "Most likely a primitive defensive reflex to salt water," he muttered.

Cam looked at him, confused. "What?"

Carson, startled slightly, turned to look at her. "You heard the Major's reaction when they added the water to the salt?" he asked her.

Cam nodded. "I'm not likely to forget it," she replied.

"It took more life from him if I understand what the others told me about his reactions to what they did to him," he continued. "It sounds like the bug reacts like that to any danger that presents itself."

Cam nodded in understanding. _"We should send him through the event horizon," _Ford said. _"If Dr. McKay figures it out in time, we can fix the Major up on the other side." _He sighed then. _"If he doesn't, we're all dead anyway."_

"_No pressure!" _McKay seemed to snarl in the background.

"_Major Sheppard would effectively be in suspended animation for the entire time," _Grodin agreed from the control room.

Carson shook his head. "We can't risk that," he disagreed.

"_Why not?" _Ford asked.

"If the creature reacted that violently to a few drops of water," the Scottish man began, "who knows how it would react to Stargate travel?"

"_You're telling me Major Sheppard can't come through the Gate while that thing is on him?" _Elizabeth asked, worried, from her position in the control room.

"_Then we must do something now," _Teyla said.

There was a pained pause. _"Hit me with the defibrillator," _Sheppard said, his voice sounding a little stronger.

Carson smiled as he exhaled and looked at Cam who shared his smile. "You're onto something there Sheppard," she said.

"_No, no!" _Ford said. _"You said that might kill him."_

"_That's the idea," _Sheppard groaned out, pain filling his voice.

"_I – I don't understand," _Teyla stuttered.

"Teyla," Carson said. "You said this creature is like a Wraith."

"_Yes," _she replied, sounding confused.

"Then how do you think it would respond if, God forbid, Major Sheppard were to die right now, then?"

There was a pause. _"It would stop feeding!" _she replied, sounding happy.

"Exactly," Carson agreed. "Just as a Wraith would."

"_How is that an idea?" _Elizabeth asked.

Cam bowed her head and allowed Kel' control, her eyes flashing slightly at the change of control. **"They are suggesting that they fool the creature into thinking its prey is dead by stopping Major Sheppard's heart," **she explained. **"If they are correct, it should free him."**

"_When the thing lets go, we give him another jolt," _Ford said.

"You can give it a try," Carson said as he shrugged out of his white doctor's jacket. "If it doesn't work, send him through the event horizon. He'll keep there as good as a deep freeze."

Cam shared a look with Carson and nodded, leaving the room as she grabbed an isolation suit. _You ready? _she asked Kel'.

_**Ready, **_she replied. _**You?**_

Cam nodded as she quickly slipped into the suit. _Yeah, _she replied.

* * *

Lantash moved carefully around the back of the Jumper as he picked up the defibrillator and moved it closer to Ford who nodded once at him.

"Thanks," the Marine told him quietly before he looked at Sheppard. "Pull his shirt open."

"What?" Teyla asked, confused.

Lantash sighed as he reached for his berretta that lay at his hip. **"A defibrillator works better when it can touch the skin of the person," **he told her, explaining it as Ford tossed her a pair of surgical scissors.

She nodded in understanding as she cut part of his shirt open before she grabbed the rest of it and tore it to the hem. Lantash nodded as he carefully checked the berretta. The others didn't ask what he was doing, seeming to know that they would be too busy themselves with other things to worry about dealing with the bug.

"Charging to two hundred," Ford called out and a quiet hum filled the air before he looked at Teyla. "Move his tags."

"What?"

Lantash gestured with his other hand to his neckline where he knew most men wore their dog-tags. Teyla nodded as she saw the dog-tags and carefully moved them out of the way, straining slightly with the bug's legs before she nodded and leaned back, the tags out of the way.

"_Place the lubrication on the paddles," _Carson said, speaking to Ford.

As Ford squeezed a bit of jelly onto the paddles and rubbed them together, a beeping filled the Jumper. "Ready to go," he said before he looked at Teyla. "Once the bug falls off, Lantash is going to have to kill it." Lantash nodded as he readied his berretta once more, pointing it at the bug with a steady hand. "I'll wait for it to charge up again and I'll give him another jolt." He looked over his shoulder at McKay. "McKay, if we can't restart his heart on the first time, I'm going to need that bulkhead door open again."

He nodded. "Done," he said as he stopped working on the control conduits and walked over and opened the bulkhead doors with a quiet sliding sound.

"One of us is going to have to get him through," Ford commented then.

"I will," Teyla said.

Lantash nodded. **"As will I,"** he said. **"You and Teyla have pestered me about resting. Being in the event horizon will be the best I will receive for now."**

Ford nodded as he started to apply the paddles, but hesitated, worry for Sheppard shining through as he looked at him with dread. Sheppard looked back at him before he nodded.

"Do it!" he ordered.

Ford reacted then, applying the paddles and pressed the two buttons, completing the circuit. Sheppard's eyes snapped shut as his body arched forwards and slumped as his heart stopped. Ford placed the paddles down and to the side before he leaned forwards and checked for a pulse.

"No pulse," he reported.

Teyla nodded and grabbed the bug and tugged at it. It trilled angrily at her and resisted.

"It won't come off!" Teyla said as she continued to pull.

"_Settle," _Carson told them. _"It may take a moment."_

Lantash bit back a sense of fear as nothing happened for a moment. _"Lieutenant?" _Elizabeth asked.

Ford starting rubbing the paddles together in response as he prepared to shock Sheppard again. Teyla pulled again at the creature. After a moment the legs retracted from around the Major's neck and the Athosian tugged it loose, revealing a large bleeding wound on his neck as Teyla threw the bug onto the bench on the other side of the Jumper. As McKay moved out of the way, Lantash tracked it easily and began to shoot when it landed on the bench. He kept firing on the bug until he had both emptied the clip and satisfied himself that it was dead. He stepped out of the way as Teyla rushed over and threw her jacket over it before she picked it up and wrapped it tightly around the bug before she placed it down while Ford picked up the paddles and shocked Sheppard again.

His body arched once before it slumped back, his eyes still shut as Ford placed the paddles down and out of the way and checked for another pulse.

"Nothing?" Teyla asked him.

Ford shook his head. "Nothing," he replied. "Let's get him through."

Lantash nodded as he holstered his weapon. McKay moved the equipment out of the way as both Teyla and Ford lifted the limp form of Sheppard to his feet as he now hung between them. He stepped out of the way as the two moved to the door. He waited until they had stopped before he moved around to Teyla's left taking Sheppard's right arm around his neck as the Athosian took his left arm. Ford still held onto Sheppard as he looked at them.

"Got him?" he asked.

Lantash nodded, sensing Teyla doing the same. "Yes," she replied.

The Tok'ra looked at sideways at her and waited for her to start walking. She started a moment later when Ford had let go of Sheppard and he moved with her, entering the event horizon.

* * *

**FIVE MINUTES LATER**

Cam sighed in relief as the Jumper slowly came through the iris-like opening in the floor. She could see both Markham and Stackhouse in the front cabin, piloting the small lozenge-shaped ship so that it hovered above the iris until it slid shut. She nodded at Markham who was now in the pilot's seat and watched as he landed the ship, the engines switching off.

"Move it Carson!" she shouted at the Dr. as he stood on the other side of the Jumper bay.

He didn't reply as he disappeared inside the Jumper. She sighed as she moved herself, nodding once more at Markham and Stackhouse before she stepped around the side of the Jumper towards the back end where the ramp was down. She moved quickly inside and watched as her brother moved slowly towards her; a slightly bleeding wound down the side of his face caught her attention for a moment before she heard a pained gasping from her right.

She turned slightly and saw Ford sitting on the bench, gasping for breath through an oxygen mask. She looked at her brother for a moment and watched him nod at Ford. She smiled slightly as she sat down next to him and gently leaned him back against the wall of the Jumper and kept his head up normally as she helped him press the mask against his face.

"You feeling better?" she asked him gently.

Ford nodded as he took a deep breath. "Much," he replied, his voice muffled slightly by the mask, as Lantash sat heavily down opposite him. "You alright Lantash?" he asked politely.

Cam chuckled slightly as her brother's symbiote leaned back against the Jumper. **"Admittedly I have felt much better than this," **he replied quietly as a gurney was rolled onto the Jumper. **"You need medical attention more than myself and my host, Lieutenant." **He nodded at the gurney and Ford nodded weakly as Cam helped him to stand.

After a few moments Ford was slowly being taken off the Jumper as Elizabeth appeared. McKay appeared at Cam's shoulder as he looked over at Sheppard who Carson was stilling reviving. The young Tok'ra sank down next to her brother as they watched as the Scottish doctor, dressed in his decontamination suit, shocked Sheppard again. The nurse who had been breathing for Sheppard using a pump had stopped while the shock had been applied before starting up again and re-attaching the compressible bag to the tube in Sheppard's mouth.

Carson paused for a moment, listening to a monitor before he cursed quickly in Scottish before he began compressions on his chest. After a moment the monitor signalled a weak, intermittent pulse.

"We've got a pulse," Carson called out as he continued them. After a moment the monitor began to beep in a more regular tone. "Getting stronger!" Cam sighed as she leaned back herself while Carson moved closer to Sheppard's chest and listened for a moment. "He's going to be okay."

Cam heard Lantash and McKay laugh slightly in happiness as Sheppard began to cough weakly. _Thank goodness, _Cam sighed.

_**Yeah, thank goodness, **_Kel' agreed as they both allowed their body to slump slightly. _**Go, worry about Lan'.**_

Cam nodded and looked at Lantash. "Let's get you to the Infirmary where I can treat you," she told him as she slowly stood up, holding a hand out to her brother.

Lantash smiled as he took it and pulled himself to his feet, leaning heavily against her as they started down the ramp of the Jumper. **"I am sorely looking forwards to a comfortable medical bed to rest upon," **he muttered tiredly to her. **"This has been the longest that I have been in control of Martouf's body in close to a hundred years."**

Cam laughed as they moved to a transporter. "You'll get your corner in his mind soon enough," she said as they stepped inside and pressed the screen for the transporter near the Infirmary. "Just rest now. I can carry you."

Lantash chuckled and nodded before he closed his eyes, slumping forwards as he allowed himself to fall unconscious. Cam smiled as she easily took the full weight of her brother and carried him into the Infirmary.

* * *

"_Time! the corrector when our judgments err." Lord Byron_

"_Time is the wisest counsellor of all." Pericles_

* * *

What did you think? Was it too long? Were the spelling mistakes or continuity issues? Or did you just plain like it. Please, let me know. Your reviews feed my writing! Press that button and let me know. Just as a disclaimer for myself, no flames please. This is your only warning 'cause if I do get a flame, I will report abuse. You have been warned.

On a lighter note, tell me what you think should happen in the next chapter. You'll be giving me ideas here people!


	5. Chapter 4: Suspicion Amoung The Ranks

I am so sorry that this has taken me so long to put up for you all to read. There is no excuse that could fully explain why, but I swear, here and now, that I will endeavour to update in a much more timely manner, allowing, obviously, for writer's block. My only excuse is that writing the SG-1 part to this chapter has been a nightmare to get done alongside my part-time work and getting college coursework finished before I went over the various deadlines. I can only ask for your forgiveness for this taking so long to get out to you.

I leave your reviews and opinions of me in your hands, but I will remind you that while constructive criticisms are welcome, flames are not and will be deleted.

* * *

Standard Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis belongs to MGM and Brad Wright and the other creators. I own nothing of the original idea behind Stargate. Only Camilla, Kel'an and the various other OC's and maybe the plot twists are mine.

AN: I would like to let my readers know now that while I will be sticking pretty – if not extremely – close to the plot lines of both the SG-1 series and Atlantis, there will be episodes that I will either ignore or gloss over. It's not because I don't want to write the episodes in, it is because of my own viewpoints on the issues raised. For example, the Atlantis episode Childhood's End in Season 1 will not be done; while I may agree with how the issue of suicide was treated in this episode, if I were to write my own viewpoint – or even attempt to moderate my own viewpoint – Camilla would come across as either extremely bigoted or extremely weak, something I do not feel would add anything to the storyline.

However, if you, the readers, wish for that to change, then, please let me know in the reviews you leave me.

* * *

_There were times that Cam hated the fact that she essentially lived in the underground complex that was the SGC. Today was one of those times as she stepped off the elevator on the Gate level, heading towards the main conference room._

Can't I head to my room? _she plaintively asked her symbiote. _I'm carrying half a tonne here!

**No, we can't, **_Kel'an answered. _**And last I checked, I was the one taking the strain.**

_Cam flushed at that, even as she opened the door. Inside was all of SG-1: Jack, Daniel and Teal'c were all sat at the conference table while Sam was busy working with a computer monitor and several wires. Cam frowned at that, even as she carefully closed the door behind her, hearing the click of the latch._

_Daniel looked up at her and smiled, even as he motioned for her to sit in the chair nearer to him. Cam took it thankfully as she sat on Daniel's right, boxing him between her and Teal'c._

_"School finished for the day?" he asked as Kel'an easily hoisted her bag onto the table, the 'thunk' of several of her books audible to everyone._

_Cam nodded, even as she looked at the others, seeing Teal'c's raised eyebrow at the sound. "Yeah," she answered. "Though I think my teachers are just plain evil; I've got at least ten pieces of work to do over the weekend." She shook her head. "I'm doomed: they're all due Monday!"_

_"How many subjects are you taking?" Sam asked from where she stood behind the monitor, plugging in various wires._

_"Eight, nine," Cam answered._

_"Might the number be the cause of this work?" Teal'c asked._

_The Tok'ra frowned at that. "Yeah," she agreed, hedging. "It might."_

_"What subjects are you taking?" Sam asked before she paused. "Actually, don't answer that."_

_Cam smiled at that, even as Daniel looked at her. "You mind a suggestion?" he asked._

_The teenager shook her head. "Go ahead," she offered._

_"Drop a couple of subjects," he told her. "How many do you actually need to be taking?"_

_She shrugged. "I'm covering all possible angles," she answered. "And they're all necessary subjects for many university courses." She looked over at Sam curiously. "What happened?"_

_"The Stargate activated, the iris mechanism was overridden multiple times, by an outside source," Sam answered. "We don't know how it happened, but every time we told the iris to seal the Gate it re-opened."_

_Cam tilted her head slightly. "What else happened?" she asked as she sat down, muting a relieved sigh._

_"A small child came through the Stargate," Teal'c answered. "He doesn't look older than ten… years of age."_

_The female Tok'ra nodded at that, jumping slightly when General Hammond opened the door connecting the conference room to his office. "General," she greeted him politely._

_He nodded at her as he took his own seat. "Camilla," he responded. "Finished with school for the week?"_

_Cam nodded at him, picking her bag up before placing the remarkably heavy bag on the floor. "Just have a lot of homework to finish before going back," she answered. "I can leave if you want."_

_He shook his head. "Might as well stay," he said. "You're ambassador to the Tok'ra, it wouldn't look right to your people if you were excluded."_

_Cam smiled weakly at that, even as Sam finally got the screen working and looked over at them, receiving a nod from General Hammond to start._

_"We did a level one analysis on the iris mechanism," Sam reported. "It behaved as if control was being commandeered from the main computer by an override, like it was being controlled from another keyboard somewhere." She sighed. "We have software specialists picking it apart now."_

_Hammond nodded before he looked to Jack. "Colonel O'Neill, any more insight into the boy?" he asked._

_The man sat up in his chair. "The best I can tell, sir, the kid survived a Goa'uld massacre," he answered._

_Fraiser nodded at that. "Well, that would explain mom," she said. "See, it would be a natural psychological defence mechanism. He's convinced himself that she never left him. That her spirit, for lack of a better word, is always with him."_

_"Well, how did he know about the Salish?" Daniel asked._

_"How did he know about my kid?" Jack interrupted sharply._

_Cam frowned at that; she knew little of the man's history, preferring that he tell her things instead of finding them out for herself, no matter the cost to her curiosity. There was only one thing she could think of, as farfetched as it was, that could explain what had happened._

_"As farfetched as it may be, could he be psychic?" she asked cautiously._

_Fraiser shrugged her shoulders, giving the silent answer of 'I don't know'. "Maybe we'll turn something up in our examinations," she answered._

_"For the immediate, should not our concern be the threat of the planned Reetou attack?" Teal'c asked._

_Cam started at that, surprised. "Reetou?" she asked._

_"That's what the kid says," Jack answered. "Why? You recognise the name?"_

_The female Tok'ra leaned back in her chair and frowned slightly. "I've heard it before," she muttered. "I know it. So, Kel' knows it."_

_"And?" Jack pressed._

_Cam shrugged. "I don't know it off the top of my head," she said quietly. "Would it be possible for me to speak with this boy? I might be able to trigger something in my memories."_

_Hammond nodded. "I would recommend it," he said. "We need to determine the validity of what little information the boy's given us." He looked to the former Jaffa. "Teal'c, I'd like you to accompany Colonel O'Neill and Miss. Carter to see him. Listen to his description of the attack on the Reetou and let me know if it appear to follow normal Goa'uld tactics."_

_They nodded at that and stood, with the Tok'ra crouching down to grab her school bag. "I'd like to drop these off before we get to the infirmary," she said as she stood up, hoisting the heavy weight onto her right shoulder._

* * *

_It took only a few minutes for Cam to stop off in her rooms, drop off her bag and change from the sweaty clothes to clean ones. She joined up with the two men seconds after she climbed off of the elevator on the infirmary level. Jack just smirked._

_"Come on kid," he said._

_She returned his smirk and fell into step beside Teal'c. The boy the two of them had spoken of was lying on a medical bed, Fraiser beside him, smoothing a band-aid over his elbow._

_"There you go," Cam heard the woman say softly. "See? That didn't hurt at all did it?"_

_The boy looked at them and jumped from the bed._

_"JAFFA!" he shouted, his voice sounding purely terrified._

_"Get that a lot?" Jack muttered to Teal'c as he moved to catch the boy who seemed to be running around the room in an attempt to get away._

_Jack caught the boy and held him by his shoulders as he crouched down in front of the boy. "Charlie! Charlie!" he said. "It's okay!"_

_The boy – Charlie, apparently – shook his head. "He's a Jaffa!" he protested, his gaze shifting between the man and Teal'c. "He wants to kill me, just like he killed the Reetou!"_

_Jack shook his head. "No, no!" he said. "No, no, no! He's a good Jaffa. In fact he saved my life one time." He smiled slightly, trying to soothe the boy. "He hates the Goa'uld as much as you do."_

_"No!"_

_Cam started at that, suddenly worried for the boy. Teal'c didn't appear to look much better._

**He's probably never known anything about the Goa'uld outside of what his "family" have told him,** _Kel'an spoke softly in her mind._

_She didn't hear Jack get up, but she watched as he turned, addressing the room at large._

_"Um, look, Mom," he began, resting a hand gently on Charlie's shoulder. "You said you trust me, right? Well, I'm telling you, Teal'c is okay. In fact, all my friends here on base are okay. Okay?"_

_Charlie pointed to his right, over to the bed where he had been lying. Cam looked where he pointed and met the lamp that was beside his bed._

_"She's over there," Charlie spoke as he looked in the direction._

_"Okay," Jack said, looking in the direction for a moment before he looked back at the boy._

_He paused, waiting for a moment. "Mother says to trust only you," he said, "and the other members of your team."_

_Jack's shoulders seemed to relax slightly. "Good. Thank you," he said, looking at the boy. "Charlie, Teal'c, Camilla. Teal'c, Camilla, Charlie." He made the introductions in typical 'Jack' style, pointing to the people._

_As Teal'c moved closer, Cam followed behind him, wincing when Charlie tried to hide behind Jack, still somewhat afraid. Teal'c held his hands out to his side, open to show no weapons._

_Teal'c bowed his head to the young boy when he was closer. "I am pleased to meet you," he said._

_Cam stepped to one side so that Charlie could see her and crouched down in front of him. "Jack's told me a lot about you," she told him gently. "It's good to finally meet you."_

_She began to raise a hand toward him, palm up in an offer of friendship when she felt Kel' twitch and vibrate horribly around her neck and up into her skull. She gasped in pain and pressed a hand to her forehead as she felt one of the worst headaches she had ever experienced. Cam reacted, trying to get to her fee to leave, but couldn't as she felt muscles in the rest of her body lose control._

Kel'! _she shouted in her mind. _Please! Stop this!

_She didn't hear anything from her friend, her symbiote, only a wordless cry of pain, even as Cam fell back against the bed, gasping in pain. Then she blanked, everything going dark for a few seconds. She came to, feeling someone gently slapping her cheeks._

_"Come on kid," she heard Jack mutter. "Wake up! Carter'll kill me if you don't."_

_Cam resisted the urge to snort as she forced her eyes open against the bright light, her eyes slowly focusing on Jack crouched down in front of her. "There's something in there," she managed after a moment. "Instead of jogging memories it only jogged my brain."_

_Jack nodded and gestured to Fraiser, hopefully to tell her to go away as Cam kneaded her forehead for a moment. "You doing okay kid?" Jack asked her._

_She nodded before pausing as she breathed, feeling a catch in her breath. "Oh no," she muttered quietly. "Oh no…no…no. This is not… good."_

_"What's not good?"_

_Cam shut her eyes for a moment. "Kel'an's unconscious… from what I can tell," she answered. "I… can't… breathe properly."_

_She felt Jack freeze in front of her, his hands on her shoulders tightening for a split second. "Fraiser!" he called._

_"Lift her up and carry her into the main infirmary," she heard the female doctor speak firmly. "We need to get her onto some oxygen and then she'll need to be under observation until Kel'an has woken."_

___Cam made to protest when she felt someone lift her up with a quiet grunt but the headache and sudden movement just had her whimpering slightly at the pain._  


* * *

_Jacob wordlessly dialled Earth and watched as Martouf readied himself to type in the code into the GDO that had been given to him. Another Tok'ra stood with them, waiting to follow._

_"What do you think it's about?" he asked Saroosh's son._

_The man looked at him, looking remarkably young despite his actual age and Jacob felt a pang of paternal instincts telling him to protect his son. Saroosh's family ties had passed on to him and Jacob sometimes spent hours trying to wrap his head around it._

_"It is possibly something to do with the Goa'uld," Martouf answered. "They would not use it for a personal nature."_

_Jacob nodded as the Stargate connected and stabilised with the wormhole arching before settling. "Send the code," he said._

_The 'younger' Tok'ra smirked and nodded, quickly typing the numbers in._

_"It's sent," Martouf told him._

_"Let's go," Jacob muttered as he stepped around the DHD and up the steps to the Gate._

_He stepped through just as Martouf did, the both of them appearing in the Gate Room of the SGC seconds later. His gaze, trained by Selmak and his memories in the weeks and months since becoming a host, tracked the room. He noted – in order – that his eldest daughter, Dr. Jackson, George and Teal'c were standing at the bottom of the ramp._

**Colonel O'Neill is not present, **_Selmak commented._ **Nor is Camilla.**

_Jacob took a breath._ I know, _he answered as he smiled at his daughter. "Hello Sam!" he greeted her as he neared the bottom._

_They drew each other into a hug and Jacob relished in it. He couldn't remember the last time he had held his eldest daughter like this. Sam had to break it as she stepped back after a moment, smiling to Martouf._

_"Dad," she said. "We have a little bit of a situation, and we may need Selmak's help. And Lantash," she added as she looked at Martouf._

_Jacob smirked. "Selmak, Selmak, Selmak," he said. "I thought maybe you just wanted to see your old man."_

_Sam smiled at that. "I do, Dad," she said._

_"But this time we do need your symbiotes, Jacob, Martouf," George said._

_Jacob looked at his friend, smiling at him. "Nice to see you too, George," he said._

_His oldest friend smiled at him. "No offense, old friend," he offered._

_Jacob sighed as he felt Selmak gently prod at his mind. He bowed his head and closed his eyes, letting his mind slip to one side. Selmak slipped in smoothly and raised his head, opening his eyes just as the glow in their eyes disappeared._

**_"It is an honour to once again return to your planet, General," _**_Selmak greeted the man formally._**_ "What can we do for you?"_**

_"Have you ever heard of something called a Reetou?" Hammond asked._

_Selmak paused before nodding._**_ "Yes, why?"_**

_"We may have one here."_

_Selmak froze for a second before he turned to look at the other Tok'ra that had followed him and Martouf._**_"Tok'ra kree," _**_he said._**_ "Tak lan onobi lon." _**_He looked back at the General._**_ "Please, send him back to where we came from. In the meantime, take me to this Reetou."_**

_Hammond gestured for the technicians to do so as the Tok'ra moved up the hidden steps as he had ordered._

_"If I may General," Martouf interrupted politely, "but may I ask where Camilla is?"_

_Selmak looked at the humans around him, before his gaze settled on the former Jaffa as he answered. "She is in the infirmary," the man said. "After our encounter with the Reetou, her symbiote fell unconscious. We are currently waiting for Kel'an to awaken."_

_Selmak shared a look with Martouf, seeing the hidden worry in the man's eyes. He nodded, giving silent permission for the other to visit his self-named sister. Selmak felt his host's worry._

**I'll go visit her as soon as we are done, **_he promised._

* * *

_Martouf followed the directions given to him by Teal'c, taking the corners that the former Jaffa had told him of. When he had been told about Camilla, worry had filled him at what the Reetou could have done to her and Kel'an. Dr. Fraiser stopped him at the entrance, keeping Camilla out of his sight._

_"She's not hurt," she told him calmly._

_"Why is she here?" he asked her quietly, letting the woman hear his worry for his sister. "If she is not hurt, then why is she here?"_

_"Camilla complained of breathing difficulties," Dr. Fraiser answered. "It became clear that Kel'an was unconscious and not taking care of Camilla. We are waiting for Kel'an to wake up and resume control. Under observation."_

_Martouf found Lantash forcibly calming his nerves as he nodded at the doctor. "Can I see her?" he asked her quietly._

_She looked at him with her brown eyes before she nodded. "Go on," she told him softly. "She's sleeping."_

_Dr. Fraiser left him then and Martouf walked quietly towards his sister, Lantash automatically silencing his steps until he stood beside his sister. Camilla lay still on the bed, dressed in pale medical clothes under a blue blanket and white bed sheet on the bed. He saw something that looked like a thin plastic tube and some of Jacob Carter's lessons on Earth technology told him that it was a nasal breathing tube, supplying oxygen to her as she slept._

_He looked at the objects around her, noting a clear bag filled with fluid attached to another thin tube that went into the crook of her right arm while a clip or something was hooked to one of her fingers, attached to an odd looking machine that said something. He frowned as he tried to read it, the formation of the words unfamiliar to him and Lantash who seemed to feel as confused as he did._

_A finger tapped the top of the screen, along the image of the peaks and valleys there. "This is her heart rate," he heard Dr. Fraiser tell him quietly. "It's slower than usual at 199 beats per minute."_

_Martouf frowned, slightly confused. "What is her 'usual'?" he asked quietly._

_"205.1," the woman answered calmly. "But her heart rate now has gotten better, she was 197 beats per minute an hour ago."_

_Martouf nodded, understanding that. "And the other?" he asked as he quietly tapped the images below the heart rate of his sister – and a history of it if he understood the machines correctly. "What does this mean?"_

_"Her blood pressure when her heart contracts and when her heart relaxes between beats," she told him. "The top numbers are when her heart contracts and the bottom ones when the heart relaxes. Again, without Kel'an in control, her blood pressure is below her usual, but it has been increasing."_

_Martouf relaxed further, not needing any further instruction to understand what was wrong with his sister. He wordlessly nodded his head in silent thanks to the healer who smiled slightly at him._

_"Call me if she wakes up," she told him firmly before walking to another person who obviously needed her care._

_The Tok'ra smiled at that, even as he moved to the other side of the bed, not wanting to disrupt the cables attached to his sister, even as he gently took her left hand into his own, clasping it. Jacob would come later and relieve him if it was needed._

_He sighed as he looked at his sister – his sister only by his own acknowledgement of the relationship between their symbiotes and by Jacob Carter's adoption of the girl and his own relation to Selmak's previous host. After Al'ek had disappeared years ago, he had felt like he had done something wrong or nothing at all to protect or help his brother and he was not about to do the same to his sister._

_"I will never lose you, Camilla," he promised quietly as he sat down beside his sister on the bed, watching her face for any sign of her waking._

_After a moment he felt her slack hand grip his weakly – in comparison to what he had felt from her after Kel'an's return to the Tok'ra movement. "You… won't," Camilla said, her voice rasping quietly and her breath catching slightly as she breathed in. "Hey."_

_He smiled at her, tightening his grip on her hand for a second before forcibly relaxing. "Hello," he greeted her, unsure if she had just made her own. "How are you feeling?"_

_She twitched him a smile before yawning, raising her right hand with a wince to cover her mouth until it passed. "Tired," she answered before she breathed in again._

_Over the quiet hiss of air in the tubes, Martouf detected another catch as she breathed in some much needed air._

_"What are you… doing here?" she asked quietly._

_"Dr. Jackson and Samantha sent a beacon to us," he told her. "Selmak is currently looking into the Reetou while I am looking after you." He smiled, remembering Dr. Fraiser. "Speaking of such, one moment."_

_He looked to where he had last seen the healer and nodded when she looked at him. Her gaze quickly tracked to his sister before she walked quickly over._

_"How long have you been awake?" Dr. Fraiser asked her, standing on Camilla's right._

_"Not long, Janet," his sister answered. "Just enough… for Martouf to make… sure I stayed… awake."_

_The healer nodded as she looked at her patient. "Still having breathing difficulties," she commented. "You never said what caused them, we might be able to fix it for you now."_

_His sister huffed a quietly laugh before she coughed, wincing. "I have… Tracheomalacia," she said, coughing again. "Acquired."_

_Martouf frowned at that, not recognising the name of the ailment but Dr. Fraiser obviously did as a surprised look ghosted over her face before disappearing behind a calm façade. "Are you sure about that, Camilla?" she asked gently._

_She nodded. "I had slightly weak cartilage… as a child," she answered. "Not that much worse… than other children. My… father was… kind enough to try and strangle me… when I was young. I… had the problem since then."_

_When Martouf felt Lantash gently nudge against his mind, he dipped his head and allowed his symbiote to take control, allowing the glow to occur behind closed eyes so as not to frighten the healer._

**_"Forgive me, Dr. Fraiser," _**_Lantash __spoke politely._**_ "But what is the ailment, specifically? I have never heard of the symptoms before, nor the name."_**

_The healer nodded, sighing. "Tracheomalacia – acquired as Camilla states that it is," she began, "is a weakness or floppiness of the walls of the windpipe. In Camilla's described case, it occurred after she was born, but with the added complication of already weak cartilage in the trachea itself."_

_Lantash nodded, understanding the description. "Hey, doc," Camilla began, "would I be able to study while… I wait for Kel'?"_

_The older woman seemed to think the idea over before nodding. "As long as you don't overdo it," she warned. "I'll send someone to get a couple of your books. Which ones?"_

_"History and Maths?" Camilla asked._

_The healer smiled and nodded. "I'll have them with you soon," she said before she walked off, gesturing to one armed guard nearby._

_Lantash looked down at his host's sister, giving her a small smile._**_ "Hello Camilla,"_**_he greeted her._

_Camilla smiled at him. "Hello Lantash," she responded. "How are things… with the Tok'ra?"_

_He smiled at that, clasping her hand in his own._**_ "Things are as they usually are," _**_he answered._**_"I should be asking how your Tau'ri education has gone."_**

_He watched as the young woman smiled. "Kel'an memories leave a lot to be desired," she admitted. "I will… admit that it is thorough, though." She smiled then, removed her hand from his – something he reluctantly allowed – and sat up._

_Lantash turned to watch what had captured her attention and watched as a uniformed man walked up to them, carrying five books. "Ma'am," the uniformed man spoke politely, carefully setting the books down on the bedside table on Camilla's right. "Dr. Fraiser told me you were studying and I took the initiative in getting you the required utensils." He saluted her and Camilla nodded back at him._

_"Thank you Lieutenant," she said, smiling at him. "If the utensils are yours… I'll return them to you as soon as I can."_

_The man saluted again before he turned and walked back to his post. Camilla waited for a moment before she grabbed two of the books and Lantash noted that one seemed to be something that a person wrote in. He was proven right when Camilla opened it, revealing hand written notes within. The other she opened was filled with formalised writing, writing that he and Martouf could not decipher._

_He growled quietly, frustrated that he and his host could not understand the writing. _**_"It looks like gibberish!" _**_he muttered._**_"We don't understand what this talks of."_**

_Camilla smiled at him. "You were not raised on Earth," she told him, pausing to breathe in deeply again. "I am used to them." She paused, breathing in, her breath catching like it had before. "If you both want to learn… Jacob could teach you… Or I could…. if you want…."_

_Lantash pondered the idea before nodding. It sounded promising and a good idea. Maybe, the next time the two of them had some free time, he would take lessons from the man or maybe Camilla could teach him as she worked through her 'work'. He smiled slightly at her, nodding at the idea before he saw the young woman stiffen as a smile spread across her face._

_"Welcome back," she whispered before she closed her eyes and bowed her head._

_Lantash recognised the signs of control exchange and waited until Kel'an lifted her head, the glow just dying from her eyes._

**_"Welcome back," _**_he said, greeting her just as Camilla had._

_His fellow Tok'ra smiled at him._**_"Greetings, Lantash and Martouf," _**_she said._**_ "Dr. Fraiser will want to hear of my specific recovery." _**_She paused and looked passed him._**_ "Dr. Fraiser!"_**

_The other woman appeared, her head popping around a corner and she smiled at the sight of the Tok'ra and having heard her voice. She walked over._

_"Let me check you both over Kel'an," she said, "and I'll let you out."_

* * *

_It took about half an hour for everyone to be ready, including Camilla and Kel'an who took several minutes to share memories on the Reetou and then to change into the Tok'ra desert uniform. Another meeting was called and Cam was sat on the side of her father and brother, looking at the weapon that her father had handed her._

_Jack was the first to speak. "Will somebody please explain, how that… thing could be the kid's mother?" he asked, jerking a thumb over his shoulder, in the general direction of the infirmary._

_"He said their leaders created him to communicate with us," Daniel told him. "They must have cloned him or engineered him somehow."_

_"Well, all they'd need is some human DNA and it would be possible to construct him in a lab," Fraiser said. "It would also explain the extra reticular formation in his brain." The doctor shrugged a shoulder. "Could have been genetically engineered to allow him to perceive his Reetou 'mother'."_

_"But how do they do something that advanced, and leave the kid so screwed up?" Jack shot at her._

_"Genetically engineering a human child would be a very precise exercise, Colonel," the doctor told him calmly. "Changing one set of genes to alter the reticular formation could have numerous additional ramifications."_

_"Even though we can't see them," Sam said softly, "these Reetou can definitely see us."_

_"Which puts us at a great strategic disadvantage," Teal'c commented. "I understand why the Goa'uld would want to eliminate them."_

_Jack rolled his eyes. "They're Goa'uld, Teal'c," he said. "That's their job."_

_Cam looked at her father, watching as he nodded. "The Reetou are actually a pretty peaceful race," he said. "The Goa'uld wiped them out just because they were a possible threat."_

_Daniel nodded. "Okay," he said. "But how did the Goa'uld wipe them out?"_

_Cam smiled, Kel's memories of it new in her mind. "They were able to isolate the emissions that symbiotes are sensitive to," she said, absently crossing her legs under the table. "Because of that they developed a device that would expose the 'creatures'."_

_Jacob lifted up a weapon. "This is a Trans-Phase Eradication Rod," he said._

_Martouf leaned forward in his seat slightly. "The Tok'ra have managed to rip off several versions of that device," he said. "It is capable of terminating a Reetou."_

_Jack sighed. "Well, do me a favour, will you?" he asked. "Don't terminate this Reetou. I promised the kid."_

_Cam smiled as she was passed one of the weapons. "If this Reetou came just warn us," she began, "then she she'll be safe. As long as she doesn't begin to interfere in this."_

_Hammond nodded at that. "It appears that this Reetou came to warn us of an impending rebel attack," he said as he took one of the other weapons, held it for a moment before he handed it back._

_"Yeah, the Reetou Rebels are… kind of like terrorists are here on Earth," Jacob explained. "Nasty Guys." He sighed. "They could do a lot of damage here, folks. Kill a lot of people."_

_"How many are there?" Jack asked._

_Cam shared a shrug with her father. "We don't know," he answered. "But I do know their MO. They work in small groups of five suicide infiltrators. They sneak in, they split up, plant destructive devices, and try to maximise the damage before they've even been detected."_

_Cam frowned as she remembered something. "But the Rebels usually attack Goa'uld worlds," she said. "Is there any idea on why they want to attack Earth?"_

_"Apparently to 'destroy all possible hosts'," Sam answered._

_Cam closed her eyes in disbelief as she leaned back in her seat._

_"Is it possible they can get through our iris?" Daniel asked._

_"No," Jacob answered calmly. "Their molecules wouldn't reintegrate anymore than yours or mine."_

_"Small relief," Cam muttered._

_"Can our weapons even touch them?" Sam asked._

_"The TER is more effective than Tau'ri weapons," Martouf answered. "But Reetou are somewhat affected by solid matter in our phase, so your weapons may slow them."_

_"But essentially we would be shooting at… nothing?" Jack returned._

_Jacob nodded, smirking slightly in answer. "You bet," he answered. "Pretty tough to shoot a moving target you can't see."_

_"Even with the TERs, it is difficult," Martouf said. "The best possible weapon is advanced information, knowing when and where they will come from."_

_"Well," Jack said. "I should talk to Mom. She might now where this Rebel staging planet is."_

_"Wait a minute," Daniel interrupted. "Say she does give us the address where they're coming from. Isn't it kinda risky to go looking for them? I mean, it's possible we may let more of them through to Earth and not know."_

_Cam snorted at that. "Sorry," she said when everyone looked at her. "You have how many symbiote hosts, all of whom are sensitive to the presence of the Reetou?" Daniel seemed to think a little at that._

_"We also have the Trans-phase Eradication Rods," Martouf assured him. "We will be able to see them."_

_Hammond nodded. "We need some intelligence, Dr. Jackson," he said. "It's the only way we'll know what we're up against."_

* * *

_One hour later and Cam stood at the bottom of the ramp to the Gate, a TER strapped across her body in the pouch that had been given to her by Martouf. Speaking of her brother, she was stood next to him, watching the Gate dial while a MALP stood at the bottom of the ramp, a camera and TER strapped to it._

_"You do not have to come with us," Martouf told her._

_Cam rolled her eyes as the Gate connected and the MALP slowly went up the ramp and through it. "I know," she agreed. "But everyone else is and I would rather help than sit around doing nothing."_

_Martouf smothered a chuckle. "Samantha says you have much work to finish before the beginning of the week," he said. "Wouldn't you be working on those?"_

_The female Tok'ra smiled. "Not when I'm worried," she answered. "I'll do so when this whole thing is finished, when I am not waiting to hear if anyone has been hurt by these Reetou. Until then, I will help."_

_Martouf looked at her, quirking a single eyebrow. "It is not me that you need to talk with," he said. "Your father is the one you should talk to."_

_Cam gently swatted her brother's arm, carefully modulating her strength as she did so. "Already did, Marty," she said. "Why do you think I'm here?"_

_It was his turn to roll his eyes, even as everyone started to get ready at the bottom of the ramp, hearing Hammond order a 'recon mission only!' and that everything was clear on the other side of the Gate. Cam moved to stand behind the other Tok'ra that had come with her father and brother, even as they themselves readied to go through, TERs active and ready._

_"Move out!" Jack ordered and that was all Cam needed to race up the ramp behind the large force of Marines that had been pulled into active duty._

_As soon as she stepped out of the Gate on the other side, Cam felt Kel'an take more control as she started to sweep the area with her TER, moving slowly away from the gate to find a quick area for shelter. In the seconds that it took Jack to get to the MALP and remove the TER, Cam had switched control with Kel'an smoothly._

**_"Looks clear,"_**_ she heard Selmak call quietly._

_"Clear!" Jack called and Kel'an stood, relaxing her muscles as she did so, lowering her TER. "Let's do some snooping around, what you say?"_

_When Jack moved to walk away from the Stargate, the female Tok'ra lifted her weapon once more and followed after him, even as he turned to speak with the other Tok'ra that had come with them._

_"You stay with SG-12," he said. "Watch our six." Jack continued walking before he seemed to realise the confusion that the Tok'ra would be in. "Back sides!" he translated._

_After that, only yards from the Stargate, Camilla took control as Kel'an began to feel distressed like before._**_"Colonel!" _**_Selmak managed to gasp out through his own pain as the Tok'ra and Teal'c slowed to a stop._

___The young woman saw the man turn and nod, gesturing for the group around them to drop down. Cam followed that easily, pressing a hand to the middle of her forehead to try and fight the pain._

**I am so sorry, Cam, **_Kel'an muttered in her head._

_Cam shook her head slowly._ No need, _she managed._

**_"The Reetou are present in that direction," _**_Selmak said and Cam looked up to see the elder Tok'ra pointing to a large sand dune on their right._

_"How many?" Jack pressed._

**_"I don't know," _**_the symbiote answered._

_When the colonel gestured for them to move to the sand dune's top edge, it took a few pained seconds for Cam to gather the strength to move there, leaning against the side of the dune as she peaked over the edge. Following Selmak and Martouf's lead, she took her TER and pointed it over the edge to see how many Reetou were available before she paled._

_"Whoa!" she heard Jack mutter, a sarcastic tone creeping into his voice. "Five or ten…"_

_There were more than five or ten, more than Cam could count while in pain and knew that her brother and father were going through the same as her._

* * *

_Back on Earth, in the SGC's briefing room, Cam nursed a small glass of water, drinking the fluid to try and deal with the remainder of the headache that she was still feeling._

_"So, you would threat assessment is high?" Hammond asked them._

_"Oh yeah," Jack answered._

_"There were a lot of them sir," Sam added._

_"They are indeed invisible," Teal'c said with such calm that Cam looked at him, unsure of what to make of his normally stoic face._

_"You're sure that none of them came through with you?" Hammond asked._

_"Can't be sure," Jacob told him. "But I don't think so. Selmak's tremors stopped a few seconds after we got through the Gate, and my guard did a TER sweep of the room."_

_Cam nodded, remembering how it had felt for Kel'an to stop shaking in her head, the worst of the headache disappearing with that alone._

_"Of course it would only take one to open the iris," Jack threw in pessimistically. "Correct?"_

_"Well," Sam hedged. "We could put palm scanners into the iris control system to prevent that. I mean, I assume they don't have palms."_

_Cam shook her head at that. "Their own version, but not what you're suggesting," she said. "Palm plates would work."_

_Hammond nodded at the idea. "Take who you need and do it now, Captain," he said._

_"Yes sir."_

_"Colonel, let's go see the boy."_

_"Aye, sir."_

* * *

_With her rooms as sparsely decorated as they were with the belongings of Kel'an previous hosts and her military grade cupboard filled with both her own clothes and the hosts before her, Cam had enough space for her brother to have a look around at her own belongings while she quickly changed her Tok'ra boots for her air force boots, preferring the strength of those to the Tok'ra uniform._

_"You seem to have managed to make this room more inviting, Camilla," Martouf commented._

_The female Tok'ra snorted at that as she tied the laces of her boots. "It really doesn't take too much to do that, Martouf," she answered. "It would do well with a bit of paint, but it's against base regulations."_

_She looked up, startled when she heard the base klaxons sounding and the red light in the corridor outside her room sprung to life._

_"They are here," Martouf breathed._

_Cam nodded in stunned silence. "Let's go!" she said, reaching for a weapon before she raced out of the room, Martouf at her heels._

_Within minutes, they had reached the base armoury and were carefully handed weapons, ones that Cam looked at curiously before she mimicked the hold that Jack had on his, even as she noticed the base lights dim suddenly._

_"EMERGENCY LIGHTING ENABLED," spoke a computerised voice through the speaker system that Cam knew ran through the entirety of the SGC._

_"We've dimmed the lights to get a better contrast on the TERs," Sam answered the teenager's unasked question. "And we've shut down all access to this floor and sub 27. So hopefully, they're trapped in here with us."_

_"Well, assume they are," Jack said as he took a gun and passed it on. "We'll do a sweep of all three access corridors, sealing as we go. Try to corral them. Jacob, Carter, Chu – C-8. Teal'c, Rothman, Brecker, Martouf – C-3. Daniel, Plunkett, Camilla, you're with me." He nodded. "Let's move out."_

_Cam sent a look to her brother and father before she followed after Jack, hefting her TER in one hand as she activated it with a simple flick of the switch._

_Within minutes, Cam walked behind Jack, scanning one room on the right while he scanned the left. "Seal blast A-7," he said as he activated his radio._

_Cam moved to one side, into the end of the room that connected to a long corridor. Daniel came in behind them along with Plunkett._

_"Jack, what happens if they come through the door behind us?" the archaeologist asked._

_Cam turned at that, Kel's training having her worried that he had seen something, before she forcibly relaxed. "Don't do that!" Jack snapped at him._

_Cam turned, aiming her TER down the corridor as Jack did the same. For a split second she saw two creatures that she identified as Reetou – almost crab-like with the legs to move around and the torso, the torso was something that Cam would never fully be able to describe._

_She reacted on instinct and fired on the closest one with the TER, hearing Jack join her. She made to shoot the other and she ducked when they shot at her. She heard it hit Plunkett behind her and she fired on the second one, frowning when it missed and hit the wall. The Tok'ra didn't turn, instead she kept her TER aimed down the corridor, wary in case the Reetou returned._

_"Damn it." Cam could hear Jack's regret in his voice and she sighed. "Kid, go and join Jacob. Now."_

_She turned to argue at that before she nodded and moved backwards carefully. She'd seen the man's expression and had reluctantly relented. She pulled out her radio as she walked along the corridor they had been in before._

_"Hey Sam?" she asked. "Where are you?"_

"Corridor near C-8,"_ her sister answered. _"Why do you ask?"

_She sighed as she lowered her TER and walked towards the corridor in question. "Jack's just ordered me to join you," she answered._

"Well, I hope you know how to treat injuries then," _Sam said._ "Dad got hit bad. We need to get it wrapped quickly."

_Cam sighed again and picked up her pace, worried now about their father. "I'll be there soon," she promised._

"Alright, Carter out."

_Sam cut the connection and Cam stuffed her radio into one of the pockets of her uniform before she carefully peeled of her uniform's outer shirt and pulled off the pale cream Earth undershirt. It wasn't the best material, but it would do to bind an injury for a short period of time._

* * *

_It hadn't taken long to clean and treat Jacob's wound, especially when Martouf joined them, having left his own group as soon as he had heard word of the injury. Knowing that it would be easier, and preferable, if a trained medic looked at Jacob's already healing injury, the man had been carefully helped to his feet while Sam raced off after a burst on the radio had her suddenly paling._

_The three Tok'ra arrived at the infirmary in time to hear Jack and Fraiser talking._

_"…You have to remember, sir, he has two major organs about to fail," Fraiser said._

_"Oh come on," Jack muttered. "He's just a kid. You've got all this fancy equipment around here-"_

_"Colonel, I'm sorry. But I don't think so."_

_Cam felt her father tense beside her and she knew Selmak had taken complete control. She watched as he walked calmly into the room, startling Jack with their sudden appearance._

**_"Let us take him," _**_Selmak said. **"He will be in good hands."**_

_"Can the Tok'ra help him?" the man asked._

_Selmak nodded once. **"Yes," **he said._

_"Excuse me," Daniel pushed in. "Isn't he a little young to be a host?"_

_Cam looked archly at the archaeologist. "I was eight years old, Daniel, when I became a host," she told him. "He is young, but he'll do well."_

_Selmak looked at her for a moment before he sighed. **"He is young," **he agreed. **"But the Tok'ra symbiote that we introduce to his mind can teach him. He will grow up with the advantages that great wisdom brings."**_

_"Two key words there," Jack said. "'Grow up'."_

_Cam sighed as she looked at the injured man. "The Tok'ra are the only way that will happen, Jack," she said. _

___The man sighed and nodded. "Do it," he said._

* * *

_Jacob looked at his daughter, looking at her in a new light with the information she had given in the infirmary. Those early days after he had taken her in had been filled with tenseness that he had worried about her having. He had wondered then – and in fact still did – why her own, biological, father and mother had done what they had to her._

_It had taken weeks for the bruises to completely fade from his memory and by then Jacob had contacted the relevant police department, letting them know that he had found a child and wanted to adopt her. That had resulted in her going to an orphanage for a few weeks before he was able to foster her, then adopt her._

_"You became a host at eight?" he asked._

_Camilla nodded, not looking at him. "A few days before we met," she answered. "It's why I always healed so quickly as a kid, why I didn't feel pain like the other kids." She risked a look up at him. "It's why I never had breathing problems."_

_Jacob looked quickly at her. "How much did Kel'an share with you?" he pushed her._

_She flushed slightly and looked away from him, looked at anything else that came within sight. "She blocked most of it, dad," she said._

_"Camilla," he warned her._

_One way or another, he would find out. He heard her sigh._

_"I know enough that I find it amusing how the people at school act," she said quietly. "It took Kel' having a seizure around Charlie's mother before she was willing to let me know about the Reetou." Jacob watched as she self consciously rubbed at the back of her neck. "Trust me, dad, the two of us will be talking. I need to know everything she does in case something like this happens!"_

_Jacob shook his head. "You don't want to know everything, kid," he told her. "Trust me, enjoy the relative innocence you have now. It won't last Cam and because of what we do and what we are, you should treasure it all the more."_

_His daughter smiled weakly at him. "I'll try, Dad," she promised. "I'll try."_

* * *

**Chapter 4: Suspicion Amoung The Ranks**

Cam stood at the end of the pier, looking gingerly down onto the water that lay a hundred odd feet below. Bates stood next to her, looking down with her as they stood at the end of the south pier – or what they had approximated as the south pier – while Zelenka worked away inside the building they stood in front of, looking on some Ancient technology.

"Someone had too much time when they built this," she commented quietly.

Bates could only nod slightly as they did so. "Or maybe they had something to prove ma'am," he replied eventually.

Cam chuckled at that. "You may be right on that," she agreed. "Do you know when Sheppard's team's due back?"

Bates looked down at his watch before he nodded again. "Two hours ma'am," he told her.

Cam nodded again before she winced as Zelenka spurted out a stream of Czech. "Thank you," she said before she glanced at Bates, seeing a slightly disbelieving look on his face.

She felt Kel'an mentally smirk as she remembered how distrusting Bates was of Sheppard's trusting nature, including her own nature. She bowed her head slightly, keeping her eyes open as she looked down at the waves below her.

"I see the problem Sergeant Bates," she said calmly. "I may be trusting in nature, but if this isn't coincidence on so many missions, I'll eat my Zat gun." She looked at him. "If it's someone from the expedition then I'll eat my daggers as well."

"Yes ma'am," Bates said tersely, straightening slightly.

Cam shook her head slightly in response.

_"Tok'ra Carter, you're required in the Gateroom," _she heard Markham's voice echo over her radio abruptly.

"What is it Markham?" she asked, ignoring the fact that Bates had perked up beside her as he and the other Marines heard it.

_"Major Sheppard's team just returned before schedule," _Markham explained before Cam winced, not needing him to voice 'again', she had already heard it. _"Dr. McKay took a Wraith stunner to the face after they had stepped through."_

Cam winced again. "Where are they now?" she asked.

_"They're in the infirmary with Tok'ra Martouf, waiting for him to wake up ma'am," _Markham replied after a moment. _"Tok'ra Lantash wished for you to be kept in the loop."_

Cam nodded in understanding. "Thank you Markham," she said before they both disconnected. She nodded at Bates. "Close up here," she told him. "I'll meet you back at the tower when you're done."

Bates nodded at her as he turned around and stepped inside the building. Cam smiled slightly as she turned and looked at the tower for a moment before she took a deep breath and began to run towards it, thanking Kel'an for the extra strength and stamina as she did so.

* * *

Cam panted slightly as she stepped out of the transporter near the control room and stepped inside, startling Peter Grodin that sat by one of the panels. Grodin was startled at seeing her in full Tok'ra uniform, carrying a P-90 at her side and a berretta at her hip.

"Tok'ra Carter!" Grodin exclaimed before he sat back down. "Major Sheppard and your brother are down in the infirmary."

"And Dr. Weir?" she asked him.

"She's in her office," Grodin told her calmly.

Cam nodded as she walked over the short walkway and into the glass walled room that was Elizabeth's office. "Elizabeth?" she asked when she saw the older woman frowning at a report on a datapad.

The woman looked up at her and smiled slightly. "Good afternoon Cam," she greeted her. "Come in. Have a seat." Cam smiled as she stepped inside the small room and over to one of the two seats in front of Elizabeth's desk. "I thought your team wasn't meant to finish until later this evening?"

Cam shrugged. "I called it off," she replied. "Dr. Zelenka was starting to grouse about his snack."

"And you heard about the attack then?" Cam nodded. "I was hoping to wait until when you had finished before I told you."

Cam shrugged. "The Wraith have showed up a total of five times now with Sheppard's team and not with the other two," she stated calmly. "That set of odds can't be a coincidence."

Elizabeth sighed as she leaned back in her chair and groaned. "I've noticed!"

Cam sighed as she rubbed her face before she let Kel'an take control after she had felt a strong nudge at her mind. **"It looks like there is a spy in our ranks," **Kel'an told her. **"I have noticed how… 'Touchy' the Marines are becoming. They are beginning to close out anyone who is not Earth born."**

Elizabeth sighed again. "You think it may be the Athosians?" It was more of a statement than a question.

**"I do not think anything," **Kel'an replied. **"It is not how I was trained. I'll draw my conclusions when everything is on the table and finished."**

"I hate the idea of not trusting them," Elizabeth told her before she stood up. "Would you join me in the Infirmary?"

Kel'an nodded as she stood up as well. **"I will, as will Cam," **she agreed. **"One moment."**

She lifted the P-90 and pointed it away from Elizabeth, the woman watching as the Tok'ra removed the magazine of bullets, slipping them into a pouch, ready to be replaced if the need arose.

* * *

Cam smiled for a moment before it fell as she stepped inside the infirmary while Sheppard left at Elizabeth's call. Martouf stood near McKay's bedside, his left arm caught in a basic sling while a bandage was clear for her to see at the edges of the sling. The sleeve was torn and missing and Cam could just see some dried blood near his shoulder.

"You're hurt," she commented as she moved to his side.

Martouf hugged her close with his other hand. "Temporarily," he admitted. "Lan's healing the damage right now."

Cam nodded against her brother's shoulder. "What happened to McKay?"

"Wraith stunner to the face," he replied. "Paralysed from the face down."

Cam turned her head and looked at the prone McKay as his eyes frantically looked around, searching for anything to see. "You'll be better soon Rodney!" she called to him. "Hopefully by morning!"

* * *

Cam walked next to her brother as they entered the Gateroom, heading towards the stairs that would lead to the control room and Elizabeth's office. She frowned as a Marine stood at the bottom of the steps, blocking access as Teyla stood in front of him, trying to get passed.

"What's going on here?" Martouf asked as they got closer.

"Access has been restricted to the upper floor for the time being," the Marine told them and Cam swore she heard a slightly smug tone of voice.

Cam frowned and tried to get passed herself before the Marine stopped her, placing an arm in front of Teyla while he placed himself in front of Cam. "I was on my way to speak with Dr. Weir," she told the Marine. "Do you have any viable reason to stop me?" She cocked one eyebrow as she looked at him curiously. "Or do you have something against me, my brother and Teyla here?"

The Marine looked like he was about to say something before Sheppard trotted quickly down the steps, stopping him.

"I believe there has been some sort of misunderstanding I –" Teyla began as she spoke to Sheppard before they all saw Elizabeth speaking with McKay. The pair glanced at them in a slightly embarrassed fashion before they hurried on. "Was unaware a meeting had been called."

Cam growled low in her chest before Martouf shoved passed the Marine and climbed the stairs two at a time. Cam followed after him and watched as her brother headed towards Elizabeth's office where she now sat alone, McKay in the control room. At least Cam hoped it was Martouf in control.

**"What is the meaning of this?!" **Nope. It was Lantash. **"Why were we not told of a meeting that was held this morning?"**

"You didn't need to know," Elizabeth told him.

Cam frowned as she looked at the older woman. "You do not trust us?" she asked her, her own voice rising in her anger. "People from your own galaxy?!"

Elizabeth sighed. "We can't take chances with the leak," she ground out.

Cam gritted her teeth as she felt Lantash fuming next to her. **"Is it more than the fact that we ourselves are essentially aliens?" **he asked calmly. **"Or is that the only reason."**

Cam bit back a howl as Elizabeth refused to look at them. "_Hic qua videum! _You remember who did the translations to get us here, Elizabeth because I know it wasn't anyone around the City!" she snapped as she gestured angrily around her before she turned and left, fuming as she walked passed McKay and towards the stairs.

* * *

Cam frowned as she answered the knock on her door. Elizabeth stood on the other side, her arms behind her back as she looked up.

"May I come in?" she asked.

Cam shrugged and looked over at Martouf who had continued to rewrap his injured arm with a fresh bandage that Carson had been more than willing to supply them with. He nodded at her as he paused for a moment. Cam sighed as she stepped to the side, allowing her in. When the expedition's leader was inside, Cam swiped her hand over the scanner and the door slid shut with a snap.

"What can we do to help you Dr. Weir?" Cam asked her politely as she sat down next to her brother so she could help him. "Translations or diplomacy?"

Elizabeth sighed. "Rodney and Zelenka found a way for us to scan the surface of this planet with a Jumper," she told them.

Cam paused in her help and turned slightly to look at her in surprise. "What?" was her eloquent reply.

Martouf's wasn't any better as he merely swore in Goa'uld before Cam slapped him gently on his leg, his arm out of the question. "I was wondering if either of you wanted to go with Major Sheppard and Lieutenant Ford."

Cam looked at her brother who raised an eyebrow at her before he looked at his arm. "Let Cam go," he told Elizabeth. "I need to stay where my arm is not going to get possibly injured."

Elizabeth nodded before she went to the door. "I'll let Major Sheppard know," she told them before she left. "Two hours."

Cam looked at her brother again. "Are you sure?" she asked him. "You've been here for a few months like us, but you haven't left the city as much as some."

Martouf nodded and pulled Cam close to him, ignoring the bandages around his arm. He rested his right cheek against the top of her head and sighed. "I'm sure," he replied. "Lan' will work better if he doesn't have to worry about my reaction to your flying."

Cam smiled and playfully hit her brother's chest in retort. "What do you mean by that?" she asked him as she pulled back so that she could continue to wrap his arm.

Martouf smiled at her, all innocence now. "Nothing," he replied. "But you fly the Puddle Jumpers as if they were Ha'taks."

Cam growled and swatted at his chest again, using a bit more strength than before. Martouf chuckled and swatted her back on her arm. Cam laughed as she made to grab at his muddy blonde hair.

* * *

Cam sighed as she looked at her modified wrist watch; both Ford and Sheppard were running late by roughly twenty minutes. She sighed again as she changed positions as she sat on the ramp of Jumper Four.

**_They'll be here, _**Kel'an told her patiently.

_I know, _Cam replied. _I just wish that they were here already._

**_You can't have your cake and eat it kid._**

Cam was saved from making a retort as Sheppard and Ford turned the corner around her Jumper and stopped to look at her. Cam had chosen to wear her darker coloured Tok'ra uniform with the boots. Her weapons were strapped to her while her Staff weapon lay on the seats behind her.

"About time," she told them as she just looked back at them. "I was honestly wondering if you two got lost somewhere."

Sheppard snorted. "Got held back by lunch," he retorted as he nodded to Ford as he held up a small bag. "Elizabeth told me you'd be joining."

Cam nodded and patted the ramp she sat on. "I'll be taking Jumper Four here," she said before she stood. "Don't worry Lieutenant about giving up your seat."

Ford smirked slightly as Sheppard nodded and moved to Jumper Three. "Come on Ford!" he hollered after a moment.

"Thank you ma'am," Ford said politely before he ran to the Jumper.

Cam could only shake her head in her response before she walked into the Jumper, tapping the controls to shut the ramp and doors. _That young man, _she commented to Kel'. _He's so innocent._

Kel'an chuckled. **_He's only a few short years older than you, _**she said as Cam sat down in the pilot's seat.

_And? _she asked. _I see your point Kel', it would be too messy, but it doesn't mean I can't window shop. As long I don't touch._

**_Sam and the others should not have introduced you to those fashion movies. _**Cam felt Kel'an groan as she activated the radio systems.

_"You want to go first Carter?" _Sheppard asked her.

Cam shook her head in response. "No thanks," she replied. "You go ahead. I'll take the rear guard."

_"Have it your way kid," _Sheppard said.

_"Jumper Three and Jumper Four, you are good to go," _Grodin told them.

Cam smiled slightly as the roof irised open. _"Yes we are," _Sheppard commented as he brought his Jumper out of its bay. _"See you in a minute Carter."_

Cam nodded as Sheppard's Jumper disappeared through the roof. She waited a moment before she followed after him, moving the two joysticks carefully so that she moved quickly out of her bay but smoothly enough up out of the tower. She smiled as she saw the bright blue sky and Sheppard's Jumper waiting patiently a few yards away.

Cam smiled slightly when she saw Sheppard and Ford in the other Jumper and nodded for them to start off. She watched as the Jumper turned and sped off. She chuckled as she followed after them.

_"It's strange not pulling any gees," _Ford commented as she brought her Jumper in behind and to the side of them.

**_Not when you are used to the gravity and inertial dampeners of various Goa'uld ships, _**Kel'an commented happily.

Cam nodded. _Oh definitely, _she agreed, remembering being in a small Alkesh with her brother.

She smirked as she heard Sheppard describing the results of excessive gees on the human body. "You are a very cruel man Major," she told him when he had asked for the sandwich that Ford had brought with him. "The Marine's have never been in anything like this, don't torment the kid."

_"You know, we still haven't named the planet, yet," _Ford commented, changing topics.

_"I'm sure the Ancients have a name for it," _Sheppard agreed.

_"How about Atlantica, something like that?" _Ford asked.

Cam couldn't help herself from snorting. "I thought there was an agreement for you not to name things Lieutenant?" she asked him before she sighed. "You don't want to know the name the Ancients gave this place." She shuddered. "It has an incredibly long name with _'At' _at the ending. It's a rather big mouthful even for myself."

She sighed as she closed her eyes for a moment, emotional exhaustion rolling through her as she was suddenly reminded of the last time both she and Jack had stuck their heads in the Ancient storage device when they'd been focusing on Anubis. She remembered Daniel learning from Jack how to speak the address they were looking for, speaking the sounds that made up the name for the Gate address. She also remembered with a pang that Jack had put himself into stasis in one of the Ancient pods in the Ancient building on Earth, the despair and resignation they all felt as the man had sealed himself inside.

**_I got ya kid, _**Kel'an told her. **_I got ya and I don't think I'll be letting go anytime soon._**

Cam nodded in answer as she opened her eyes and frowned as Sheppard pulled his Jumper to a stop. She mimicked him as she sighed in frustration.

"What are you doin' Sheppard?" she asked them.

_"Is that… land?!" _Ford asked and Cam looked off into the distance and felt her eyes go wide.

**_How big is it, do you think? _**Kel'an asked her.

Cam frowned before the display came up, showing the landmass. _Big, _she replied.

_"Really big!" _Ford said as he laughed delightedly.

**_Oh my!_**

* * *

Cam walked into her room when she had returned to Atlantis later that day. She clicked her neck loudly before she saw her brother lying asleep on the small sofa in her room, a blanket draped over his lower body. She smiled slightly at the sight as she moved and picked up a light chair and moved it over to the sofa where she could sit down and watch Martouf.

He lay on his back while his injured arm was draped over his chest as it slowly rose and sank in his sleep while his face remained peaceful, almost serene. _He hasn't looked this peaceful in a while, _she commented to Kel'an. _Not even when Jack was back before we left; he was always on edge._

**_I know, _**Kel'an replied. **_It's been a long time for him to let his defences down like this._**

Cam bit back a chuckle as she nodded. _Much too long, _she agreed. _Definitely much too long._

The sound of the doors sliding shut must have created a lot of noise as Cam watched her brother wake up, his eyes opening as they settled on her. "Comfortable?" she asked him.

Martouf nodded as he carefully sat up. "Yes," he replied. "Still feeling tired though." He looked at her as he swung his legs off of the sofa. "How was your trip?"

Cam smiled as she stood up and moved away, putting the chair back as Martouf stood up slowly. "Feet dry about half an hour away from here," she told him. "Fifteen million square miles."

She chuckled when she saw her brother's astonished expression at the news. "Really?" he asked before he shook his head. "Danger?"

Cam shrugged. "I went only ten miles or so inland," she replied. "I didn't hit anything resembling predators but I did come across enough open space for a good number of crops to be grown."

Martouf nodded as he moved over to her. "You're thinking of going back there," he commented.

Cam shrugged at him. "Maybe," she replied. "I don't know. I hate being in a place where my presence isn't trusted because of what I am." She forced herself to take a deep breath as she felt Kel' soothe her nerves. "The Marines aren't just shutting out the Athosians, they're doing it to us!"

Martouf nodded. "They do it only because they think any aliens, known to them or not, are to blame for the attacks," he told her. "They will figure out we are_ not _to blame soon enough."

Cam looked at her brother. "But when will it be 'soon enough'?" she asked. "It might be tomorrow or the next day or in a few weeks or months time! By then it may already be too late to do anything to repair the damage." She sighed angrily. "I'm beginning to mistrust the Marines myself because of all this!"

Martouf sighed before he pulled Cam into a careful embrace, using his good arm to hold her. "That may happen," he agreed. "But a similar thing happened with the Tok'ra if you'll remember."

Cam nodded as she leaned against her brother. "I know," she replied. "I remember, but I can't help it."

The older Tok'ra merely tucked her head under his chin as he nodded. "If you want to go when the scientists have cleared it, go," he told her after a moment. "I'll stay as Ambassador for the Tok'ra here."

Cam nodded. "Thanks," she muttered.

* * *

**A FEW DAYS LATER**

The young Tok'ra sighed as she stood in her room, looking around before she carried on packing. Martouf was in the Jumper bay, helping the Athosians there pack one Jumper with their belongings while the other Athosians went back to their quarters and ferried more boxes and objects up to the Jumper bay.

_I feel sad leaving here, _she commented to her symbiote as she moved to her dresser and quickly stuffed a duffle bag with the contents. _It's started to feel like home._

Kel'an nodded in understanding. **_It feels like we're leaving Earth all over again, _**she agreed.

Cam looked around and moved to her weapons, those which she had convinced Elizabeth to allow her to take out of the armoury to keep with her. _It's not as bad, _she said. _But it might as well be, leaving a family member behind._

**_Someone who knows you better than Sam ever could. _**Cam quickly packed her weapons, placing the daggers on top before she shut the small box.

_Martouf knows everything about me and what it's like to be Tok'ra._ She sighed as she looked around the room checking for anything she had forgotten to pack. _He knows everything that matters and I know him thanks to you and Al'ek._

**_Being a Tok'ra does that to you, _**Kel'an agreed. **_You feel comfortable amoung the peers of your kind because you know them the best._**

Cam sighed as she shouldered her bag and picked up the small box in her hands. _Time to go, _she commented as she moved to the door.

She started when the doors opened, revealing her brother as he stood there. "You need help?" he asked her, nodding to the small box she held.

Cam shrugged. "Maybe," she told him. "It's not full."

Martouf smiled as he took the box from her using both his hands. "I'll help," he told her as they both started walking towards the short flight of stairs that would take them to the Jumper bay. "You have everything you'll need?"

Cam nodded. "Clothes, weapons and a few personal necessities," she replied as she shrugged her bag into a slightly more comfortable position on her shoulder. "I was talking to Kel' about it feeling eerily similar to leaving Earth for this place."

Martouf nodded as they reached the Control room. "I know," he said. "I guess this is how the others felt when we left them all those months ago."

Cam nodded as they climbed the rest of the stairs in silence. When they reached the Jumper bay she bowed her head, feeling Kel'an nudge at her mind slightly.

**"We will miss you both," **Kel'an told Martouf as he lowered his own head.

Lantash nodded after he had raised his head. **"May your journey and new life be a safe one," **he quietly intoned.

Kel'an bit her lip as emotions began to flood through her while Cam stood in the background, merely watching. She said nothing as she took the box from Lantash and placed it on the floor beside her before she embraced the other Tok'ra.

**("We will miss you,") **she said into his chest as Lantash reluctantly embraced her back.

**("As will we,") **he replied. **"Go now before we do something that we'll all regret."**

Kel'an nodded as she let go of the other Tok'ra and picked up the box. **"Until we meet again," **she said before she moved to the Jumper that held all of the boxes and bags that were going to be ferried to the mainland. She placed hers on the floor by the compartment doors and nodded to the Marine that sat in the co-pilot's seat.

He looked decidedly green in the face as Kel'an let Cam have control back, controlling the flashing of their eyes. "Thank you Marine," Cam told him as she settled into the pilot's seat. "You can go to the other Jumper if you wish."

The Marine nodded at her and hurried out of the Jumper. Cam smiled after him and shook her head as she picked up her headset and activated it.

"Atlantis base, this is Jumper Four," she intoned carefully. "We are ready for take-off to the mainland."

_"Jumper Four you have a go," _Grodin told her. _"Jumper's Two and Three will join you as soon as they have collected everyone."_

**_We can take a few people, _**Kel'an told Cam. **_We'll need help unloading this thing._**

Cam nodded. "Atlantis base, this is Jumper Four. I have space for a few more Athosians."

_"Understood Jumper Four, Tok'ra Lantash is moving a few to your Jumper as we speak," _Grodin replied after a few moments. _"You have clearance for take-off as soon as you are ready."_

Cam nodded again. "Understood Atlantis base," she said. "Jumper Four, out. Will remain in radio contact while in the air."

"You are joining us?" someone asked and Cam turned to face the person.

She nodded. "Halling," she greeted the man as he nodded back, drawing a smile from the Tok'ra as she stood up. "Would you rather a traditional greeting?"

Halling smiled slightly as he stepped closer, quickly grasping her upper arms, pressing his forehead to hers as Cam bent her head forwards slightly in response. The woman knew that her own relatively short height in comparison to Halling's own towering height meant that the Athosian would have to bow a little more to complete the greeting.

"Thank you," the Athosian responded as he pulled his head back from hers and released his grip on her arms. "Not many of your people would be willing."

Cam smiled as she sat back down in the pilot's seat and motioned to the co-pilot's seat for Halling. Halling nodded slightly as he sat down next to her.

"How many people are joining us on this Jumper?" she asked Halling who settled himself into the seat.

"Only three, including myself," he told her.

Cam looked over her shoulder and counted the two other people climbing into the Jumper. "That's everyone," she commented. "Have a seat everyone in the front compartment and we'll be on our way."

She smiled at the other two as they nervously joined them and sat down in the last two seats. "Are we allowed to leave?" Halling asked her.

Cam nodded as she gently grasped the controls and felt the Ancient systems accepting her as she took control. "We can leave as soon as the ramp's up," she told him as she leaned forwards and pressed the relevant control key.

The sound of the hydraulics working to close the ramp brought her out of the system. She checked over her shoulder before she nodded again as the ramp snapped shut.

"Atlantis base, Jumper Four is ready for take-off and awaiting orders," she said as she looked out of the front of the Jumper.

_"Jumper Four, you are a go for take-off," _Grodin told her. _"The roof is open and awaiting for your journey." _Cam smiled as his voice echoed throughout the Jumper. _"Oh, and Camilla? Good luck."_

Cam smiled as the last part Grodin had told her was for her to hear only as she heard it in her headset. "Thanks Peter," she said before she moved the controls slightly and lifted the Jumper off of the bay floor. "See ya guys later."

She sighed as she carefully turned the Jumper around so that they were facing towards the mainland. She smiled slightly as she saw Martouf looking at her with a smile of his own. He nodded at her before she lifted the Jumper out of the tower, moving through the open roof. She looked around for a moment, using the sensors on the Jumper to locate where she was before she sent the Jumper towards the mainland, pushing the engines a bit so they would get there sooner.

"Thirty minutes until we reach the mainland," she told both Peter and the Athosians that had joined her.

"Thank you," one female Athosian told her.

Cam looked over her shoulder and recognised her as Marta, an Athosian who could see Wraith-like apparitions. "You're welcome," she replied before she looked back in front of her, keeping the Jumper on a straight line.

* * *

**THE NEXT DAY**

Cam sighed as she moved around inside the tent that the Athosians had helped her erect soon after they had arrived. Her belongings were scattered around the tent while she kept her main weapons on her body, mainly at her sides or strapped to the outsides of her legs. She heard a knock on the wooden posts on the outside of her tent.

"Come in," she called as she strapped her daggers to her legs.

She frowned as she looked up when the flap moved; Jinto stood in front of her, looking politely down as he did so.

"Is there anything I can do to help Jinto?" she asked him.

Jinto shook his head reluctantly. "Mr. Martouf is asking for you," he told her.

Cam smiled at the young Athosian. "You can look at me Jinto," she told him gently as she put on her boots. "Why's my brother asking for me?"

Jinto shrugged. "He's waiting outside," he admitted.

Cam chuckled and moved over to the young boy and crouched down in front of him. She gently pressed her forehead to his in greeting and thanks.

"Thank you Jinto," she told him truthfully. "Can you let him know that he can come inside and let your dad know I'll be speaking with him for a while? I may not be able to join today's hunt in time."

Jinto nodded before he hurried out of the tent. Cam smiled and shook her head as she tied the laces of her boots.

**_Young children, _**Kel'an commented happily. **_They make you smile._**

Cam smiled again. _Reminds me of when I was with Jacob and I could actually relax for once, _she agreed as she slowly stood.

The tent flap rustled as Martouf entered. "Cam," he greeted her as they pulled the other into a tight embrace. ("You're needed back on Atlantis.")

Cam frowned as she pulled away from her brother as he spoke in a rushed form of Goa'uld. ("What do you mean?") she asked, responding in kind.

("It is Teyla,") Martouf told her. ("She's in the custody of Bates for now while McKay begins to search her belongings for any form of communication with the Wraith.")

Cam looked at her brother, astonishment clearly written on her face. ("They do know that we both know how to infiltrate other races in the manner they are depicting?") she asked him as she moved over to her belongings which had all been packed into the box she had brought. Her clothes were still folded in her shoulder bag. ("I'll return.")

Martouf nodded as he took the box from her hands. "You'll need to speak with Halling about leaving," he told her.

Cam nodded as she swung the shoulder bag over her shoulder into a much more comfortable position before they both left the tent. Before they could go any further, Cam saw Halling running towards her, slowing as he reached them.

"My son tells me you have to leave?" he asked her.

Martouf nodded. "My sister has been requested to come back to the city," he told him. "There has been some technological difficulty that requires her attention."

Halling nodded in understand. "Please give Teyla our regards," he said.

Cam nodded. "Of course," she promised as Martouf gently took her arm and pulled her towards the waiting Jumper.

* * *

Cam sighed as she stepped into the lab where she had been told that McKay would be working. She had grown used to the Ancient style walls with the columns at every point a person could look. She spotted the Canadian scientist looking at a screen as he scanned something he held in his hands.

"You need help there McKay?" she asked.

McKay started as he turned to look at her. "Sure," he said as he gestured to the other things he obviously hadn't touched. "Your brother obviously went and got you."

Cam nodded as she picked up a necklace that lay on top of everything. "Yeah," she said. "He told you that I'd probably be able to help the most?"

McKay nodded as he looked back at the screen. "Yeah," he replied before he shook his head and turned to look at her. "You have any ideas where you'd place a tracker or something like it, would you?"

Cam shrugged as she lifted up the necklace she held. "This would be a good place to hide on," she commented. "The Tok'ra used to generally place trackers or small microphones underneath particularly large necklaces like this one."

McKay nodded as he took it from her and placed it beneath the scanner. After a few moments a smile broke across his face before he turned to look at her.

"Thank you Cam," he told her. "You've saved me a few hours work!"

Cam chuckled at that. "If you go get Sheppard, I'll free Teyla," she said.

The man began to nod before he paused. "Actually," he said. "I think it would be better if you were here to help explain this to the Major."

The woman sighed and nodded. "If I must," she agreed. "I don't really have anywhere to be."

The man nodded and hurried from the room, barely pausing to swipe his hand in front of the scanners. **_Good to see that he's back to normal, _**Kel'an commented.

Cam nodded as she made to leave finished her search through the Athosian woman's belongings, just making sure that she had covered everything for the Canadian scientist. _He's been quiet too long, _she agreed as she moved quickly through the belongings, placing them carefully back into the bag that had been left nearby. _The threat of the Wraith attacking has gotten everyone's nerves up._

Several minutes later, even as Cam was still packing, McKay came back into the room, Sheppard trailing after him, a slight limp visible in his gait. She saw the Major's gaze fall to the remainder of Teyla's belongings placed neatly on the tables.

"What the hell is this?" the man snapped out.

Cam stepped back, raising her hands as she moved. "I understand how this must look, Major," she said. "But Dr. McKay asked me to return and help him."

She saw the pilot's gaze track to the scientist. "It was a special request from Sergeant Bates," he said.

If Cam had been closer, she would have felt the angry growl she was hearing coming from the man. "I'm going to bust that son of a bitch," he snarled.

Cam shook her head as she finally finished packing, moving things delicately. "Before you snap, snarl and roar at us again, Major," she said, "both McKay and I agree that Teyla doesn't have any direct affect on this."

McKay sighed as the pilot seemed to clam and look between them. "The thing is, Bates' was right," the scientist said.

Cam stared at the man then, knowing that Sheppard was doing the same. "Okay," she said slowly. "In what crazy universe is he ever right?"

The scientist rolled his eyes. "I know," she said. "I'm as surprised as you are, but look at this." He picked up the necklace and pointed to the screen. "It's her locket. It's a transmitter. It's also been broadcasting a continuous signal. We wouldn't have even noticed if we hadn't been looking for it specifically."

Cam watched as the Major sighed and his shoulder slumped slightly. "I found it," he said quietly.

Cam started at that. "What?" she asked the man gently.

The Major shook his head slightly. "Back on her planet, the first time we met," he explained. "Teyla to me to the old ruins of her people. That necklace was half-buried in dirt. I gave it to her."

* * *

Cam was tense as she stood in the Briefing Room in the main tower of Atlantis, her arms crossed over her chest as she stood, essentially, opposite Bates. The man had barely looked at her, only to frown and glare for a moment as McKay walked in and placed the necklace down in front of Elizabeth, the woman picking it up to have a look at the obviously alien design.

"The locket isn't powerful enough to send a signal very far," the scientist told her and Bates, even as Sheppard stood in the Briefing Room.

Cam nodded at that. "The best guess is that there are probably relay devices on certain planets that can pick up the transmission from the locket," she said. "They would obviously notify the nearest Hive ship." She sighed. "I took the liberty to compare the planets that Major Sheppard's had been attacked on and those are agreeable to the theory."

Sheppard sighed at that. "Boy, do we owe a few people an apology," he muttered.

Elizabeth looked at the locket again, tilting the technology in her hands. "Teyla had no idea she was giving away your position," she said.

Sheppard nodded. "She said it was a gift from her father," he agreed. "She lost it when she was a kid."

"It was probably dormant 'til Major Sheppard picked it up," McKay put in, "activating it."

"But if it was activated by touch…" Bates began before Cam sighed.

"Major Sheppard was the one to activate it, Sergeant Bates," she said firmly. "With ten thousand years of no Ancient activity, it is reasonable to assume that the locket's technology went into standby so as not to waste Wraith energy or effort." She shrugged a single shoulder as the man seemed to glare at her. "As far as the Wraith are concerned, Teyla and her people are purely human, not interest in tracking her. However, Major Sheppard on the other hand…"

"Major Sheppard has the Ancient gene," Elizabeth finished.

McKay nodded. "Exactly," he said. "Now, at one point, the Wraiths and the Ancients were at war. The Wraith created the transmission device to detect Ancients."

The Air Force pilot sighed. "So, some Athosian thought this would make a nice little necklace," he commented.

Cam raised a hand to McKay, stalling him before he said anything in anger. "We do not know that for sure, Major," she said. "But it is perfectly acceptable to say that Teyla and her people are innocent of the charges laid upon them." She looked at Bates for a moment. "As are both my brother and myself."

She saw Sheppard look archly at her for a moment before an expression flashed across his face. "If that's the case," he said. "Then, we can use the technology against them."

* * *

Cam allowed Kel'an control to tap the screen for the transporter that was on the corridor that led to Teyla's room as she climbed in from the corridor at the labs. She sighed when she saw the Marine guards positioned outside of her room as she walked towards them.

"You may stand down," she told them as she reached for the scanner.

One Marine grabbed her arm, stopping her; and Cam look at him curiously. "No one is allowed to enter," he told her, not letting go.

Cam looked at his hand for a moment. "By whose orders?" she asked him.

"Sergeant Bates', ma'am."

Cam nodded. "Well, last I checked, Ambassadorial status of the Tok'ra allowed me access wherever I wished to go," she commented as she looked at the man.

"No one is allowed entrance."

Cam sighed as she mentally stepped aside, feeling Kel'an take complete control as her eyes flashed at the Marine. **"Do you deny my access?" **she asked him, her dual voice growing deeper with her anger. **"It would serve you well to let go of my arm before I remove it and hit you over the head the soft and bloody end."**

The Marine gulped visibly as he looked down at where he held her arm and promptly let go. "Sorry Ambassador," he mumbled as he stepped back in front of the scanner.

**"Apology accepted," **Kel'an accepted. **"It would serve you well to leave now, your guard duties have been terminated."**

"Terminated?" the other Marine asked her.

Kel'an nodded. **"The Athosians and myself have been found innocent of any Wraith contact," **she explained. **"Therefore, Teyla Emmagan of Athos is no longer under house arrest."**

The Marines looked at each other before they nodded. "Yes ma'am," they replied before they saluted.

Kel'an nodded politely back at them before she reached for the scanner herself and swung her arm over the sensor. After a moment the door slid open.

**"Teyla?" **she called. **"May I enter?"**

"Please, come in Kel'an," the Athosian's voice called from the balcony.

Kel'an nodded as she stepped into the room, hearing the Marines now walking off. She moved to the other side of the room where she saw the door open for the balcony and stepped out beside the older woman.

**"Teyla," **she greeted her.

Teyla nodded politely at her before she turned to look at her. "I thought you had joined my people on the mainland," she commented.

Kel'an chuckled. **"My host and I were until an hour ago," **she replied. **"I was called by my brother to prove your innocence."**

Teyla looked at her curiously. "And?" she asked.

Kel'an smiled at the older woman. **"You have been found innocent," **she told her. **"You were _indirectly _responsible for everything happening." **She raised a hand to stop the Athosian from speaking. **"The necklace you have been wearing since you met Major Sheppard was a Wraith tracking device for the Ancestors." **She used a term that she knew Teyla would understand. **"Every time you have gone off-world the Wraith have tracked the signal." **She sighed again and leaned against the balcony tiredly. **"It is because of Sheppard that the necklace has been active." **Cam gently pushed forwards a memory that showed her talking to the Athosian about the necklace and how it had been found.

Teyla nodded. "He posses the genes of the Ancestors," she concluded. "I am sorry that this happened."

Kel'an shook her head. **"It was not your fault," **she told her emphatically. **"You could not have known." **Teyla nodded but did not look convinced. **"Come," **Kel'an told her as she slowly stood up. **"I know Major Sheppard would love to speak with you."**

Teyla looked towards the doors of her room. "How can I when the people of Earth guard my doors?"

Kel'an chuckled. **"They have been dismissed at my orders Teyla," **she explained. **"You are no longer confined."**

Teyla seemed to relax and nodded as they both moved towards her doors. "May I ask where Major Sheppard is?" the Athosian asked.

Kel'an nodded, smiling softly. **"Both he and Dr. McKay are in one of the laboratories that I will be taking you to," **she said. **"They are planning to use the Wraith technology in the locket to lure the Wraith to a planet. They wish to capture one alive."**

Teyla nodded at that, both of them walking out of the Athosian's rooms to the transporter, the Tok'ra symbiote tapping the screen for the area that she knew the Major would be at. They all felt the familiar displacement and Kel'an paused for a moment as she heard the sound that she had typically associated with the ring devices used in the Milky Way. She shook her head fondly as the doors open as she led Teyla down the corridor into the labs in question.

Sheppard, McKay and her brother started as they entered. "You're late," Sheppard said as he turned away from their entrance casually.

The Tok'ra chuckled as Teyla apologised. **"We were waylaid, Major," **she told him. **"The guards posted outside Teyla's quarters were stubborn in their insistence that my host was not allowed entrance." **She smiled at that, even as the man looked at her, an eyebrow raised at her questioningly. **"The Marine guards were under the impression that I would attack them with their own limbs if they did not move for us since both the Athosians and the Tok'ra were proven innocent."**

The man nodded at that, even as Ford opened a box on one of the tables in the lab. "Now, given the Wraiths' regenerative abilities, killing one requires some effort," Ford said. "Catching one alive is gonna be a whole other deal. "For any of these options to work, your Wraith has to be on the ground."

McKay nodded. "The last planet we visited we inaccessible by ship," he said, "and the… uh…ruins, around the Stargate should force them to come through on foot."

Ford nodded. "In which case," he said as he gestured to the open box. "You'll be able to use these." He pulled out what Kel'an recognised as a stun grenade. "This is a stun grenade, filled with a mixture of aluminium and potassium that, when ignited, produces a high pressure wave that will overwhelm the intended target with intense light and sound." The Lieutenant handed it off to Sheppard. "If that doesn't get his head ringing, in addition, you've got a tazer."

Teyla frowned at that. "I do not know what that is," she said.

Kel'an sighed as she looked at both her brother and at Ford. **"Use me for a demonstration, Lieutenant," **she told the man as she stepped back from the table, feeling Camilla in her mind sighing and curling in on herself as she waited for the inevitable impact and pain.

When Ford looked at Sheppard for a moment, the Tok'ra waved impatiently at the man before he nodded and pointed the tazer at her. "This is what happens when the taser is used," he said.

Kel'an watched as Martouf moved to stand behind her quickly, seconds before Ford fired the tazer at her. The Tok'ra muffled a scream of pain down to a whimper as she felt her entire body collapsing in on itself as the pain overwhelmed her control. She was vaguely aware through the fire in her shared body that Ford was talking to Teyla, quickly describing something before the pain stopped and Kel'an drew in a coughing breath, struggling for it as she realised that she was held in Martouf's arms.

**"Now I remember why I hate those weapons," **she muttered.

* * *

**THREE HOURS LATER**

Cam sighed as she sat on the railing of the balcony that overlooked the Gateroom, her feet resting on the small metal bar that ran beneath her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Elizabeth move to her side, the expedition's uniform jacket was missing as she saw the short sleeves of her red shirt as the older woman crossed her arms and leaned against the balcony.

"Are you alright?" Elizabeth asked her.

Cam shrugged one shoulder slightly as she held onto the railing beneath her. "Depends," she replied.

There was a quiet sigh. "I can only apologise for –" she began.

The Tok'ra smiled slightly as she raised one hand, silencing her. "I don't want or need your apology Elizabeth," she said. "You were only doing what you thought was right. I can't fault you for it. The same goes for the Marines."

"Will you be alright?"

Cam nodded, even as the Gate dialled in. "I will," she agreed. "It'll take a bit of time, but I will." She looked at the expedition's leader. "I hope our friendship will survive."

Elizabeth smiled at her, even as the shield went up in front of the formed event horizon. "Major Sheppard's IDC," Peter called from where he sat in the control room.

Cam nodded at the man. "Go," she said. "I'll be waiting."

Elizabeth smiled. "Lower the shield!" she ordered Peter who nodded in response.

A moment after the shield went down Sheppard came through first, followed by the others surrounding a lone Wraith. Cam let out a sigh of relief when she saw Martouf at the back, holding onto his Staff weapon as he looked up and nodded at her.

_Everything's right in the world, _Cam commented happily.

**_For now._**

_Pessimist!_

* * *

_"Family is just accident... They don't mean to get on your nerves. They don't even mean to be your family, they just are." – Marsha Norman_

_"Suspicion is a mental picture seen through an imaginary keyhole" – Anonymous_

* * *

So, I would like to thank the reviewers who have stayed with me for these _very few _chapters over the years. It means a lot that you've stuck with the lack of updates from me. I can't apologise enough to you for it. Please, review; let me know if there were good or bad points, parts you enjoyed, hated, wished were different. I welcome your views.

Side note, in case you're new to reading this, I welcome reviews from those who are not members, but I do ask that if you leave me a question – or a comment that I want to respond to – a unique name so that I don't get you all mixed up. If you don't, oh well, in which case, I will keep you all separate unless you make it clear that you are a different 'guest' instead of a new one leaving a review.

Okay, mini-half-rant-half-plead over. I really hoped you enjoyed this. I'm hoping (please don't hold me to this!) to have the next chapter written and checked within the next week, but no promises on this matter. For the SG-1 sections of the chapters, I welcome episodes you want me to write with Camilla and Kel'an, or even just ideas that you would like to see at some point in either SG-1 or Atlantis.

Last part – I promise – I hope you enjoyed reading this, or at least smiled slightly! I will update soon.

* * *

I apologise for the multiple updates, I am unused to the new formatting styles an I'm finding added in the dividers a bit interesting.


	6. Chapter 5: How To Poison The Well

Well, from the number of reviews that hit in the past week or so, I'll say that I'm starting to be forgiven. I was planning on getting this out earlier and I'll explain here: my family and I are moving house, so that means boxing everything up before moving day hits. I had this ready to go days ago, but with packing everything up, I was waylaid on my way to the 'post' button.

I promise to try and get the chapters out to you in a timely fashion, but since moving days is almost two weeks away, I cannot guarantee anything for the next month as we try and settle in as quickly as we can.

* * *

Standard Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis belongs to MGM and Brad Wright and the other creators. I own nothing of the original idea behind Stargate. Only Camilla, Kel'an and the various other OC's and maybe the plot twists are mine.

AN: I would like to let my readers know now that while I will be sticking pretty – if not extremely – close to the plot lines of both the SG-1 series and Atlantis, there will be episodes that I will either ignore or gloss over. It's not because I don't want to write the episodes in, it is because of my own viewpoints on the issues raised. For example, the Atlantis episode Childhood's End in Season 1 will not be done; while I may agree with how the issue of suicide was treated in this episode, if I were to write my own viewpoint – or even attempt to moderate my own viewpoint – Camilla would come across as either extremely bigoted or extremely weak, something I do not feel would add anything to the storyline.

However, if you, the readers, wish for that to change, then, please let me know in the reviews you leave me.

* * *

_The classroom in the high school was what any person would have expected: tan coloured walls with short bookcases on one side of the room; a large blackboard at the front of the room that covered almost the entire upper half of the wall. The teacher's desk had been moved forwards, towards, the student's desks that covered the floor._

_Cam, her hair tied back in a braided ponytail at the back of her head, looked down at the notebook she held open in one hand while she used her other to write down the equation and the answer the maths teacher had set the day before. She kept her head down, looking at her notes while she just wrote. Well, more like Kel'an wrote while she merely looked at the equation, allowing her symbiote to see it as she wrote._

**Nearly there Cam,**_Kel'an told her. _**Just a little bit to go.**

I know,_ Cam replied as all the other students merely watched her. _I'm beginning to re-think doing this.

**Too late now,**_Kel' told her before she sighed and lowered her host's hand. _**Done!**

_Cam stepped back and looked at the equation for a moment before she nodded. "Done, Mr. Persi," she said as she turned to look at the maths teacher._

_She bit the inside of her lip as she forced herself not to smile as Mr. Persi, a chubby man in his late forties, looked at her rather long equation that was on the blackboard after he had removed his bottle-bottom glasses._

_"T-t-t-that's…" he said, stuttering for a moment. "Correct."_

_Cam nodded before she frowned when the sound of something rapping on wood. "Ms. Carter?" a voice asked._

_Cam turned slowly to see Daniel standing in the doorway, wearing his green BDU's. "Yes?" she asked finally as she nodded politely at him._

_Daniel kept a straight face. "A situation has arisen on the base," he told her. "You've been asked to return."_

_Cam smiled in return. "Asked?" she asked. "Or ordered by the General."_

_Daniel smiled at her. "It's both a request and an order ma'am," he replied and Cam could see the slightly pained look in his eyes at having to address her as such – something that she knew no one else could see. "An order from the General; a request from your father and brother."_

_Cam frowned for a moment before she nodded, surprised by the fact that apparent her brother and father had called for her. She turned to face the teacher, slipping an apologetic expression on her face, tilting her head._

_"I'm sorry Mr. Persi, I have to go," she said as she placed her notebook on his desk before she moved to her own, grabbing her things, moving quickly as she slipped her belongings into her bag._

_"Where are you going?" Sarah, a friend of hers, asked her quietly._

_Cam turned to look at the brunette with hazel eyes and smiled. "Back to the base," she told her quietly as she packed her bag quickly. "See you tomorrow?"_

_Sarah nodded. "See ya," she agreed as Cam moved to the door where Daniel stood outside, leaning against the wall._

_"Come on," Daniel told her quietly as they headed towards the front doors where Cam could just make out the shape of a base Humvee. "We'll talk inside."_

_Cam nodded as they stepped outside of the school building before they walked to the Humvee and climbed in. "What's going on?" she asked him when the car had started moving. "You said dad asked me to return to the base."_

_"Yeah, about that," Daniel said as he absently rubbed at his neck while his short cropped hair didn't reach the base of his head. "Your dad sent a message, asking to come through. He wants to see you and Sam."_

_Cam frowned for a moment. "He doesn't have a trip lined up," she commented as she leaned back in her seat. "Why does he want to come through?"_

_Daniel shrugged. "We don't know," he admitted. "We'll wait until he comes through." He looked at Cam closely. "Was that the equation that Sam helped you with last night?"_

_Cam nodded. "Yep," she replied. "Mr. Persi wasn't expecting anyone to be finished today."_

_"Who else has a physicist for a sister?" Daniel asked her._

_Cam smiled. "No one."_

* * *

_Cam stood at the bottom of the ramp as the iris opened before the wormhole formed, arching for a moment before it settled. Cam stood next to Sam who stood next to Daniel, next to Teal'c, next to Jack. After a few moments Jacob stepped through the Gate onto the ramp before he walked down it, the Gate shutting down behind him._

_"George," Jacob greeted Hammond._

_"Jacob," Hammond replied._

_"Colonel O'Neill," Jacob started nodded at Jack. "Teal'c." The former Jaffa nodded back at him. "Daniel." The linguist merely smiled. "Sam. Cam." He pulled the two into an embrace, holding them close for a moment._

_"How are you two doing?" he asked them._

_"Okay dad," Sam said, answering for both of them._

_Jacob smiled and let go of them before moving to stand next to Hammond. "So, you guys are the talk of the Tok'ra water cooler," he commented easily._

_Jack frowned. "For what?" he asked._

_"Kicking some major Hathor behind," Jacob replied with a smile._

_Jack smiled slightly. "Yes, we do take pride in good work," Jack said before he frowned. "But that's not why you're here?"_

_Jacob shook his head. "No," he agreed. "We need your help."_

_Sam frowned and looked at her father. "You need our help?" she asked._

_"With what?" Cam asked him._

_Jacob nodded slightly. "Let's just call it a Goa'uld hunt," he said._

* * *

_Cam stood behind Sam on one side of the brief room table while Jack, Daniel and Teal'c sat on the other side. Hammond sat at the head of the table while Jacob walked over to the middle of the table and placed a small, round object there, activating it with a gently press on one side. A hologram quickly lit up in the shape of a pyramid with several symbols around it._

_Ra's symbol was at the top with a group of three symbols on each of the four other faces. "It's fascinating," Daniel said as he looked at the hologram while it spun slowly, allowing everyone a clear view of all the sides._

_"No kidding," Sam agreed. "A projected hologram with no silver halide coated plates, no photo polymer film." Sam sat forwards and passed her hand through it, smiling._

_"I think Daniel was talking about what's being projected sis'," Cam said as Sam sat back, mouthing an 'Oh' at her comment._

_"It's like a family tree of the ancient Egyptian gods," Daniel commented._

_"Actually, of the Goa'uld System Lords," Jacob corrected him._

_"Ra," Daniel said after a moment. "Apophis." He pointed to one symbol he could see on his side of the table. "Hathor. Her'ur."_

_Teal'c frowned for a moment. "The symbol of Setesh is oscillating," he commented after a moment._

_Cam frowned and looked at the one figure that continually flashed a brighter colour than the other symbols. "That is the symbol for Setesh," she agreed._

_"Have you met him Teal'c?" Jacob asked him curiously._

_"I have met descendants of his Jaffa," Teal'c replied._

_"Alright," Jack said, frowning slightly. "Who's this Setesh fella?"_

_Cam frowned for a moment before Daniel nodded at her. "He's known in Egyptian mythology by several names: Setekh, Set, Seti, Seth," she listed._

_"Ancient Egyptian god of chaos," Daniel continued for her. "The embodiment of hostility, and outright evil."_

_"Why haven't we heard of him before?" Hammond asked._

_"Well, I'm guessing we haven't even scratched the surface on meeting all the Goa'uld System Lords," Daniel explained. "There's probably thousands we haven't even heard of, right?" He looked at Jacob._

_"Only dozens at the ranks of System Lords," the older Tok'ra replied, correcting him. "Thousands of Goa'uld's in general."_

_Sam turned slightly to look at Jacob. "What makes you think we've met this one?" she asked._

_"The Tok'ra have been taking a Goa'uld census or sorts," he explained. "Where the System Lords are positioning themselves, what domain they rule, who serves under them, that sort of thing." He sighed then. "But there's one Goa'uld we've lost track of."_

_"Seth?" Jack asked._

_Cam frowned as Kel'an pushed a memory to the surface. "The records, last Kel' knew," she began, drawing everyone's attention to her, "show that everything the Tok'ra have on him ends when Earth's Gate was buried after the rebellion."_

_Sam frowned at them. "Are you saying he's never left?"_

_"That's our theory," Jacob agreed. "We think he might still be here, hiding amoung Earth's people."_

_Jack ground his teeth and moved to look at the Gate as it stood in the Gateroom below. His silence gave everyone a chance to relax slightly as Jacob sat down next to Sam while Cam stood behind Jacob's seat and leaned against it._

_"Alright, we'll be cuttin' to the chase on this one," Jack said after a minute as he walked back to his, but leaned against the top, rubbing at his face tiredly. "You want us to help you find this snakehead, who, if he's here at all, would be hiding in one of…" He looked around for a moment. "6 billion people on Earth?"_

_Jacob nodded. "Yes," he replied calmly._

_"How do you know he's still alive?" Sam asked._

_"He's alive if he has a sarcophagus," Daniel told her._

_"Or if he changes hosts every 400 years or so," Jacob put in._

_"But if he were here, why wouldn't have tried to get at the Stargate sometime between when it was buried and now?" Hammond asked. "Or why wouldn't he try to take over Earth like Ra did?"_

_"Seth had a hefty price on his head just before the rebellion," Cam said carefully. "He tired to overthrow Ra before and the System Lords wanted him dead, as did the Tok'ra at the time."_

_"We believe if he's still here it's because he's using Earth as a hideout," Jacob continued for her. "He wishes to remain hidden amoung you."_

_"Kinda gives 'needle is a haystack' a whole new meaning," Jack commented._

_"Well, I know it's a long shot," Jacob said._

_Daniel shook his head. "Not necessarily," he disagreed. "Remember Setesh is Goa'uld."_

_Jack turned slightly to look at him. "Yeah?" he asked._

_"As a Goa'uld, he will never lose his thirst for power," Teal'c continued._

_"And they do have a pretty common MO for getting that power," Daniel finished._

_"False religion."_

_Daniel gestured slightly to a Teal'c with a smile. "Which shrinks the proverbial haystack considerably," he said. "Let me do some homework, track him through archaeological and historical record."_

_Hammond nodded. "Do it," he said._

* * *

_Cam sighed as she rubbed at her face absently while she kept the Egyptian book open in front of her. A notebook lay in front of that as she slowly translated it while Daniel sat at the only computer, searching for variations of Setesh's name. Teal'c sat nearby, reading through something else while Jack just sat, staring at a blank page in front of him. Cam jumped slightly as she heard the sound of the elevator doors opening around the corner. After a few moments both Jacob and Sam walked in._

_"So what's the bad news?" Jacob asked._

_Teal'c stood up, lowering what he had been reading. "On the contrary," he said. "We have good news."_

_"You do?" Sam asked._

_"I did a timeline Boolean search for religion, cult," Daniel began to explain. "Set, Setesh, Setekh, Seth…"_

_"Yadda," Jack interrupted._

_Daniel cleared his throat slightly. "And here's what I found," he said as he nodded to the computer screen where a small page of information of Seth was, showing a single hieroglyph that depicted a creature that Cam had never seen before._

_"What is that?" she asked._

_Daniel followed her line of sight to the creature and clicked on it, enlarging the image. "Oh yeah, that," he said. "Well, Setesh was represented by an animal that was either fictitious or now extinct." He nodded slightly. "Most likely the former, rather than the latter since anthropologists haven't discovered any fossils to point to a species like this ever existing."_

_"Egypt is a desert place Daniel," Cam reminded him. "The only bodies or fossil's they've found is when they were mummified."_

_Daniel nodded slightly in acknowledgment. "Because the creature represents Setesh," Teal'c began. "The helmets of the Setesh guard have continued to be the source of many jokes amoung the Jaffa."_

_Jack's eyebrows shot to his hairline in surprise. "Jaffa jokes?" he asked. "Let's hear one of them."_

_Cam heard Kel'an groan slightly and a memory of a Jaffa joke rose to the surface before Kel'an pulled it back down. "I shall attempt to translate one O'Neill," Teal'c assented as he thought for a moment, translating. "'A serpent guard, a Horus guard and a Setesh guard meet on a neutral planet. It is a tense moment. The serpent guard's eyes glow. The Horus guard's beak glistens. The Setesh guard's nose drips'."_

_Cam groaned, feeling Kel' silence it, as Teal'c burst into laughter. The others just looked at him while Cam just kept her head in her right hand. Daniel took a healthy drink from his blue mug in front of him._

_"Okay," he said, giving everyone a chance to distract themselves. "After Set was supposedly killed in Ancient Egypt along with all his minions, a similar god showed up in Greece called Typhon. Similar back-stories and domains. Another fictitious animal representation. In one of Typhon's last legends he killed three hundred followers and then disappeared from Greece." He pointed to one image that Cam couldn't see clearly from where she sat. "Now at that point he seemed to have vanished from recorded history until I found this." He backed out of that page and moved to another. "A new cult arose in England in the early 1800s, strangely enough near the location of Stonehenge. The cult had an enigmatic leader called Seth." He sighed as he looked at the page for a moment. "They were constantly under attack by the Christians and this is the most important part; Seth's worshippers – all of them – were found dead, having slit their own throats." Cam absently rubbed at her own throat, feeling slightly disgusted. "But Seth's body was never found."_

_"Guy liked to leave a lot of dead bodies behind," Jack commented._

_"Did you lose the scent there?" Sam asked._

_Daniel shrugged. "I thought so," he admitted. "Until – on a whim – I did a search on the US Government's classified net in case the CIA had a record of something, somewhere." He smirked slightly "And guess what came up on the ATF page?" He opened the webpage, showing a picture of man. "A cult whose leader is named Seth. Lives just north of Seattle. The ATF as investigating him now because they've become so heavily armed and fortified." He sighed again. "This guy has about 50 followers who are all, apparently, ready to die for him."_

_Cam frowned slightly before she felt Kel' nudge at her mind, gently asking for control. She bowed her head and let the control change hands before Kel'an lifted her head up, her eyes having flashed beneath her closed eyes._

**_"You have managed to find Setesh?" _**_she asked Daniel._

_"How do we know he's our Goa'uld?" Sam asked._

_"Deprogrammed ex-members of the cult describe Seth as having magical powers and the ability to heal," Daniel explained. "They also claim he's murdered several members in front of the others. Here's the best part: several independent reports have stated that the cult leader came make his own eyes glow."_

* * *

_Cam climbed out of the car that Jack had been driving, following after the Sheriff of the small town that Seth now lived outside off. Cam shuddered slightly when she saw the white-wash buildings that stood at the other end of the road. Jacob stood next to her, wearing green BDU's instead of his Tok'ra uniform since they were off of the base._

_"That's the place," the Sheriff said as he pointed to the building in the distance. "Main building's about three-quarters of a mile up that drive." He sighed. "I sure hope you can shut these guys down. I had a lot of parents come into my office – they lost their kids to this nut." He explained. "I haven't got the manpower, or the, uh, what you'd call probable cause that you federal types do."_

_Cam smiled slightly even as she shivered again._ **We're not there, **_Kel' told her._ **We're nowhere near your birth parents.**

I know,_ Cam replied._ It's just… It's just that everything looks the same, down to the field next to us.

_Cam looked away from the field that stood behind the Sheriff's car, memories of Al'ek lying prone and dead on the ground in the cornfield springing to the surface._ **Sorry kid, **_Kel' apologised as she quickly brought the memories away from the surface._ **You haven't had any flashbacks like that recently.**

It's 'cause we weren't near anything that looked like a cornfield, _Cam said before the Sheriff nodded politely from his car and pulled away, driving back down the road towards the town._

_A man walked out of the field, a tent already pitched and his car outside the fence. "You people the FBI?" he asked them._

_"No," Jack replied calmly. "Who are you?"_

_"The name's Jason Levinson," the man told them. "I've been camping down here for the past month hoping to catch a glimpse of my boy, Tommy. At least know he's still alive. He's been in there for nine months now." He looked at them all closely for a moment. "You folks deprogrammers? You gotta be good. The guy I hired got shot in the leg trying to get in there."_

_Cam smiled slightly again and shook her head. "You're saying that they've got some armed guards?" she asked him._

_Levinson nodded. "A lot of them," he replied. "What's the damn small town sheriff do about it? Nothing. Not a damn thing." He looked at Jacob and stepped closer. "You're the father aren't you? Your boy's in there."_

_Jacob shook his head. "No, no," he said. "You've got that wrong. My son isn't in there."_

_Levinson didn't look convinced as he stepped away. "Uh huh," he said. "How much would you tack on to get my boy out the same time as his?" He looked at Jack._

_"You help us," Jack told him. "We might be able to help you."_

_"I'm with you sir," Levinson agreed._

_Jack shook his head. "That won't be necessary," he said. "But we could use any information you might have. What your guy did, where he went in, where he got caught, that kind of stuff."_

_Levinson nodded. "You got it," he replied. "The fence is in the wide open and most of the property. But I'll show you a brush cover if you wanna go in."_

_Cam smiled slightly at her father even as he looked at her closely. "Something's troubling you," he said quietly as they started walking after the man._

_Cam nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Things are just a bit too similar to what happened to Al'ek when I was running away. The fields, the houses, the road." She shuddered, rubbing at her arms absently before Jacob pulled her close to his side._

_"You'll be fine," he told her. "We aren't anywhere near them?" Cam shook her head. "Then put them out of your mind. They can't do any damage."_

_Cam nodded tiredly. "Thanks dad," she muttered._

* * *

_Cam took the wire that Jack offered her, pointing to the metal fence nearby. She smiled slightly at him before she moved the fence and wrapped it around the bars carefully, making sure to get both the top and bottom with the cord before she nodded at Jack. He moved closer to the fence and carefully lit it before moving Cam back away from the sparks that poured from the covert entrance in the making._

_"You guys are prepared," Levinson commented carefully. "I'm goin' with you."_

_Daniel, the one closest to him, shook his head. "I think it'd be safer for everyone if you wait for us here," he said._

_Cam looked back at the fence and watched as Jack carefully kicked the bars inside. Jacob went through first, carrying his Zat gun, before Jack followed him. Cam waited until Teal'c had gone through before she followed after him, waiting for Jack to signal the start of the hunt. She only had to wait a few moments before she saw him gesture to move over the hill. She stayed close to the trees, holding onto her Zat gun, as they moved so that they could see the house._

_Sam moved in front of her, pulling out her field binoculars to have a closer look at the people that were patrolling the edges of the building. Jack crouched next to her while Cam stayed between her father and Jacob._

_"AK-47's," Jack commented after a moment. "A couple of Uzis." He smirked slightly. "Anyone think they observed the requisite 15 day waiting periods for those weapons?"_

_Cam smiled in response. "Probably not," she replied before Sam frowned._

_"Sir, there're side-arms," Sam commented. "I think it's safe to say there's a Goa'uld in there." Sam seemed to lean forward for a moment. "And it looks like a pair of 50 cals."_

_Jack shook his head as he put his binoculars away. "Does the concept of overkill mean anything to anybody?" he asked before he nodded. "Let's fall back to the RV point."_

_Cam nodded as she moved first, climbing up the path with ease as she slipped her berretta into the small of her back before she felt a wave of exhaustion roll through her._

**Let me take control kid_, _**_Kel' told her. _**You haven't slept for the last two days.**

_Cam nodded slightly as she stepped aside mentally. In mid-stride Kel'an took control, moving with a bit more speed._

Thanks Kel', _she said after a moment._ I owe you a movie after this.

_Whatever Kel'an was going to say was cut off as they both saw a group of armed men pointing their own weapons at her as she stood at the top of one of the hills next to the fence. She turned her head slightly and motioned to Teal'c to hide his Zat gun before Jack climbed up in front of him._

**_"Colonel!" _**_she called quietly to him, trying to keep her double tone hidden and gained Jack's attention. **"We have company."**_

_She nodded to the men as the others reached the rise. "Lower your weapons!" the man in the middle of the group ordered them._

_Jacob moved to Kel'an side, holstering his own berretta._

_"I was wondering when you folks were gonna show," Jack commented easily. "We got bets." He nodded over his shoulder at the rest of SG-1. "I say FBI, they say ATF."_

_"Special Agent James Hamner," the man said. "ATF."_

_"Damn!"_

* * *

_Cam had swatted away various masculine hands, as well as feminine ones, that had tried to pat her down to search for the berretta she carried in the small of her back before she had been stripped over the tactical vest and almost shoved into an unmarked, black people-carrier. She sat next to Jacob and Teal'c as she carefully arched her back so that the gun didn't press too much into the small of her back._

_"You still got it kid?" Jacob asked her quietly._

_Cam nodded slightly, hearing the double meaning: one; did she still have her weapons and two, was she still holding it together with the fields they were passing. "I've been better," she replied. "Just too many memories rushing to the surface."_

_Jacob nodded before the truck – if one could call it that – turned into a field near where they had originally spoken to Levinson. The truck in front of theirs halted in front of a green canvas tent before one door opened and Hamner stepped out. Two men wearing ATF jackets stepped up to their truck and opened it, allowing them out. Jacob moved out first before Cam followed after him, climbing down from the seat._

_"General," Hamner greeted Jacob politely. "Wanna tell me what interest the Air Force has here?"_

_"That would be classified," Jack said as he climbed out._

_Hamner nodded. "This way, gentlemen," he said, gesturing to the green tent before he started walking, leading them to it. "Are you guys special forces?" he asked over his shoulder, almost like an afterthought as he lifted the tent flap, allowing Jacob to enter first._

_"Also classified," Jack continued as Hamner stepped inside._

_Hamner glared at him. "I was talking to your commanding officer."_

_Jacob smiled. "He's right," he agreed. "It's classified."_

_"I have top level clearance," Hamner objected._

_"Oh, not top enough," Jack said, smiling as Cam sat down on an unused table._

_"You have a rather insubordinate subordinate, General," Hamner commented to Jacob._

_Jacob just smiled at him. "He's not insubordinate to me," he replied calmly. "Only to people such as yourself," he explained. "Saves me the trouble." He smiled again. "Now maybe you could tell us what you and your cohorts are planning here."_

_Hamner looked at him, seeming to almost size him up before he nodded. "The compound is owned by a cult," he said._

**Well done, Agent Hamner, **_Kel'an commented sarcastically._ **You've got more than we do!**

Quiet Kel'! _Cam admonished her symbiote as she missed part of what Hamner said._

_"We've recently acquired intelligence to confirm they have a hoard of prohibited weaponry here," Hamner continued._

_"That's a mighty fine intelligence you got there," Jack commented politely._

_"So what do you plan to do?" Jacob asked, cutting off Hamner's retort._

_"Surround the compound and negotiate," Hamner told him after a moment. "Try and get 'em to come out peacefully."_

_"You have no idea what you're dealing with," Daniel commented from where he stood leaning against a metal shelving unit._

_"And I suppose you do?"_

_"As a matter of fact," Cam said, drawing Hamner's attention to her. "Every member inside that compound of yours would rather die than leave."_

_"Great!" he said, smiling slightly. "Then why don't you tell me more?"_

_Cam smiled and shook her head. "That would be classified as well," Jack said._

_"Fine!" Hamner snapped. "Well I'll tell you what. The United States Air Force has not been invited to participate in this operation therefore you're out of jurisdiction." He smiled slightly. "Therefore, I'm ordering you all to leave, or I'll have you arrested."_

_Cam shared a look with her father and nodded at the one telephone she had noticed when she had first looked around. "This is a secure telephone, isn't it?" Jacob asked. "Can we use it to place one call?"_

_Hamner nodded. "Why not?"_

___Jacob nodded. "Thank you," he said before he nodded at Jack. "Colonel?"_

* * *

_Cam sat inside an open truck, her legs crossed so that her feet lay on her thighs. Jack sat next to her, his feet on the ground as he watched Daniel pace for a moment while Jacob leaned again the truck, his arms crossed as he seemed to think. After a moment Daniel walked over._

_"Jack," he said, speaking to the Colonel of the group. "Based on Seth's history if these guys go in guns blazing, he's gonna kill everyone in there."_

_Jack nodded before he looked at the two Tok'ra as Teal'c and Sam walked over. "Can we assume some kind of brainwashing is going on in there?" he asked._

_Jacob seemed to think for a moment. "It's probably Nish'ta," he said after a moment._

_Jack looked at him confused, as did Sam and Daniel while Teal'c seemed to think for a moment. "It's a biological compound," Cam explained. "When inhaled, it infects all the tissue in the body, including the brain." She sighed as Kel' pushed a memory to the surface, pausing to sooth her._

_"It tends to make your mind extremely pliable," Jacob continued for her._

_"That's like what Hathor used," Daniel commented._

_"It's stronger," Cam told him._

_"It's more encompassing," Jacob finished._

_"I believe this is the substance used on Rya'c," Teal'c said._

_"Can it be reversed?" Jack asked._

_"Nish'ta does have an Achilles heel," Jacob said. "Once its effects are reversed, it can't re-infect a host." He smiled slightly. "They become immune."_

_"Okay," Daniel said. "Well, how do we reverse it?"_

_"There's only one way," Jacob admitted. "An electrical shock; strong enough to kill the organism, but weak enough not to kill the host."_

_Teal'c nodded slightly. "That is why it worked when I shot Rya'c with a Zat'nik'tel," he stated._

_"Then we go in with Zats," Jack calmly stated._

_"Well, it's not going to be very covert that way," Daniel said. "And, like I said, any kind of frontal attack is going to be a problem."_

_"Daniel's right sir," Sam agreed. "Besides, with all the firepower he's got, we wouldn't stand much of a chance anyway."_

_Cam sighed as she nodded. "We'd be swiss cheese in seconds," she commented before she looked at the tent as a head stuck itself out._

_"Colonel O'Neill?" the man asked. "Special Agent Hamner wants to see you."_

_Jack sighed as he stood up. "See you guys later," he said before he disappeared inside the tent._

_After a few minutes Hamner stepped out, leading the three other men that had been inside with him. Cam frowned as he nodded at the tent._

_"He wants ya," he told them._

_Cam carefully uncrossed her legs and stood up before she followed after the others into the tent, Sam going in first, followed by Jacob, Teal'c, Daniel and finally herself. She didn't hear what Sam asked, if she asked anything, but she did hear Jack's reply._

_"Oh yeah!" Jack had removed his cap as he looked at a map of the outside of the building. "He's put me in charge here for the time being."_

_"What do you suggest O'Neill?" Teal'c asked._

_"Well," he said after a moment. "I'm thinkin' we need to get in there."_

_"Alright," Cam said. "How?"_

_Jack shrugged. "Floor's open."_

_Daniel bit his lip for a moment. "Well, I was thinking about that," he said, everyone turning to look at him. "If Seth's MO hasn't changed from his history, we know certain things from digs in Giza and Valley of the Kings."_

_Cam frowned, sharing the same expression as both her father and sister. "We do?" Sam asked._

_Daniel nodded. "For example," he continued, "Many Egyptian leaders built their compounds with underground escape tunnels."_

_"That is correct," Teal'c confirmed. "Apophis had them built into his facilities."_

_"So, perimeter searches?" Cam asked as she sat on an empty desk and crossed her arms over her chest._

_"And search for those tunnel entrances," Sam said._

_Jack looked at the map and sighed. "That's a lot of territory," he said before he smiled slightly. "We'll have Hamner's men help us."_

_Cam smiled. "You're a cruel man Jack," she said. "A very cruel man."_

___Jack just smiled at her over his shoulder._

* * *

_Cam sighed as she stood in front of the map of the compound, marking off areas that the men had covered for no tunnel entrances. She was marking it all on a sheet of acetate on top of the paper. With the 'Air Force' taking the lead, Jack had quickly relegated her to coordinating teams to search the sectors shown on the map she was stood in front of._

_The teenager knew that several of the men in the ATF seemed to resent being told what to do by what they considered a 'child', but with Hamner's orders to listen, the resentment had quietened down slightly._

"Sector 15 clear,"_ a man told her over the radio, his voice echoing the ear piece she wore._

_"Understood," she replied as she quickly marked the area off._

"Sectors 19, 20 and 23 are clear as well,"_ another replied._

_Cam sighed. "Understood," she repeated as she mimicked what she had done before, marking off the three other sectors as she tapped her radio headset. "Teams in sectors 15, 18, 19, 20 and 21, move to sectors 16, 17 and 22." She sighed again. "Check in, in ten minutes."_

"Understood."

"Cam? You there?"_ It sounded like Sam was on the radio._

_"Hey Sam," she replied. "You need something?"_

"Yeah,"_ was the reply._ "How good are your electronic skills?"

_Cam shrugged. "Not too bad," she said. "I remember Alex doing some wiring for Marty a few years ago, seemed simple enough to do." The female Tok'ra just hoped that her sister understood what she was talking about over the radio, unsure of how secure the signal was._

"Think you can rewire our earpieces for a Zat shock?"

Can we? _Cam asked Kel'an._

**It's easy with other pieces, might just have to look at the earpieces themselves though, **_she replied._

_Cam nodded out of habit. "Probably," she admitted. "I'll need to look at one though before I can though."_

"There should be one on Hamner's desk."

_Cam nodded as she moved over to his desk and looked around for a moment, lifting small stacks of paper until she saw one. "Got it!" she said. "I'll see you guys when you get back."_

"See ya."

_Cam moved over to an empty desk where it had been cleared and set the earpiece down._ Can you give me a hand?

_Kel'an took control of her hands and wiggled the fingers slightly before she lifted her hands up._ **I can give you two. **_Cam smiled slightly as Kel'an started to pull the earpiece apart, carefully removing the protective cover for the inner part of the ear, exposing the wires and circuitry inside._ **Oh my!**

Oh my, is right, _Cam agreed before Kel'an started looking at the wires._

_Little over half an hour later, while Kel'an was still carefully rewiring the earpieces on pieces of Plasticine the tent flap moved and the others stepped inside. Cam smiled as she continued to look down the microscope one of the ATF computer tech's had brought her soon after she had started. She did feel Kel'an slow down slightly as she held the two pairs of tweezers, pulling at a few switches and wires. She felt Sam and Jacob move to stand at her left side and slightly behind her before she lifted her head when Kel' finished, lowering the tweezers._

_"You done?" Sam asked._

_Cam nodded and clicked her tight neck, hearing the loud popping/clicking noise echo. "One there," she said, gesturing to the other earpiece that lay in front of the microscope. "K' had a look around before she started."_

_Sam turned and nodded at someone behind her. After a moment a small arch of energy surrounded the earpiece that Cam was still working on. Jacob gently nudged Cam's shoulder, making her look at him. She saw him smiling slightly at her._

_"Can you get another one done quickly?" he asked her._

_Cam shrugged at him. "Maybe," she replied. "I'll need Sam's help."_

_Sam smiled at her as she pulled up her own chair. Cam handed her the microscope and tweezers so she could work on the last one. Sam smiled at her as she took them._

_"I can get it sorted," Sam said as Cam quickly shut the earpiece._

_Jacob picked one up and looked at it before he tossed it to Jack who was walking over to them. "Here's one," he told him as the Colonel caught the earpiece. "The last one will be ready in a minute."_

_"What are you doing?" Hamner asked as Jack placed the earpiece into his left ear._

_Cam scrubbed at her face, rubbing away the feeling of tiredness that she felt was encrusted there. "Trying to get something to deprogram these guys when they get inside," she said, nodding at her sister before she saw Daniel and threw the other one at him. "Here!"_

_Daniel fumbled to catch it for a moment before he held it tightly in his hands. He frowned for a moment before he nodded and placed it in his ear._

_"Gimme a test count," Hamner said as he turned to look at Daniel._

_He nodded as he slowly walked away from him and over towards Sam. "One Mississippi, two Mississippi," he said, his voice echoing slightly from several speakers in the tent. "Three Mississippi, four Mississippi." He turned slightly to look at one technician who nodded at him. "Five Mississippi."_

_Jack nodded at him, signalling him to stop before he looked at Sam. "Carter?" he asked._

_"It'll work sir," she replied as she kept her head looking down the microscope. "Assuming dad's right."_

_Jack looked at Jacob curiously. "Dad?" he asked._

_Jacob shrugged in response. "If the jolt is big enough it'll work," he answered. "But you have to stay under the Nish'ta's control long enough for it to spread through all your tissues otherwise it will regain a stronghold in your blood."_

_"So give us a hint when you start seeing little white bunny rabbits when there shouldn't be any," Cam told him with a little smile._

_Jack opened his mouth to reply when Hamner tapped his shoulder. "Gimme a ten count," he told him._

_Jack absently pressed his earpiece. "Uh, one, two, three," he started. "Four, five, s–"_

_Hamner nodded, interrupting him before he looked at Sam. "That's good," he commented. "You ready for yours Captain?"_

_"One second," Sam replied absently before she sat up, straightening her back as she moved away from the microscope in front of her. "Okay Teal'c," she called. "Push the button."_

_Cam turned in her seat and saw Teal'c flip a switch before he pressed the button beneath it, activating the earpieces. "Aargh!" Daniel called out, shocked._

_"Hey!" Jack followed shortly after. "Okay?"_

_Sam nodded in response, the one in front of her having obviously worked. "Okay," she replied. "Wire me."_

* * *

_Cam sighed as she sat at one of the ATF desks with three or four hard files that contained many photos that Hamner had granted her access to so that she could look through the pictures of Seth's followers. Both Kel'an and Selmak had wanted to know the rough numbers of men and women that Jack and the others were going to come across. She opened one of the many files and began to flip through the one stack inside, allowing Kel'an to take control while she counted._

Eight, nine, ten, eleven, _she counted quickly as Kel'an kept control. _Twelve, thirte–

_Two faces she had hoped and begged that she would never see after she run away all those years before. The faces of her parents looked out at her with their blue eyes. Her own widened slightly in horror before she stepped back from the control, mentally screaming._

Please! _she cried at Kel'an. _Please! Change! Stop this!

_Kel'an quickly took control and moved onto another picture of a different person before she wrapped her host in a mental embrace, soothing her. _**They won't recognise you, **_she calmed her. _**You don't look anything like the little girl that ran away from them.**

_Cam didn't nod as they quickly finished counting in a minute before she looked up at Jacob and Teal'c as they sat by the machine that allowed them to hear what was going on with the others. They both wore the headsets as they listened to the others as they walked in the tunnels._

_"It looks like Seth's got close to sixty or seventy followers the ATF has tagged," she told them. "I'm willing to bet more inside the compound itself."_

_Jacob nodded in answer. "It seems the most likely," he replied. "Setesh was known back before the rebellion as having men outside of his court that were guards. He had women inside his court as well as eunuchs."_

_Cam just shuddered. "I feel sorry for Sam," she said. "If she's hit with the Nish'ta she'll be put inside the court."_

_Jacob seemed to stifle his own shudder. "Not for long if I can help it," he replied before he sighed. "They've entered the complex and Jack's commenting on singing soprano. Don't know why."_

_Cam chuckled mirthlessly. "Eunuchs are usually castrated dad," she told him as she put the photos away in the file. "Castration usually makes a male's voice higher, hence Jack's comments on soprano."_

___Jacob winced slightly before he looked at Cam for a moment. Cam kept her face impassive, feeling Kel'an hide some of her panic and shock before her father nodded and leaned back in his seat._

* * *

_"They are awake," Teal'c voice disturbed her as she noted down Goa'uld hierarchy and lineage in Goa'uld. "Shall I activate the devices?"_

_Cam looked up at Selmak and watched as he shook his head. **"No," **Selmak spoke. **"We must wait to be sure that the Nish'ta has permeated their tissues before negating it."**_

_"How long?" Cam asked him; Kel'an didn't know much about the drug herself._

**_"About an hour," _**_he replied. **"It's a smart virus. If there's any unaffected tissue remaining in the body it will give the organism a safe harbour in which to mutate. Then it will overtake their body once again."**_

_Cam frowned for a moment. "They've been out of it for a while now," she said. "It won't be much longer."_

_"Excuse me." Cam looked up at the tent flap and saw Levinson looking inside. "Mind if I watch?" Cam looked at Selmak and watched as he carefully lowered his head, allowing Jacob control while Levinson stepped inside. "I mean, my son's in there. I just wanna be involved."_

_Jacob shook his head when he had lifted it a moment later and removed the headset he wore. "I'm afraid I can't let you in here sir," he said carefully, apology clear in his voice as he looked at him. "I'm sorry."_

_Levinson nodded in understanding. "Yeah, figured," he replied before he nodded at the coffee machine. "Grab a cup of coffee?"_

_Jacob smiled slightly. "Sure," he agreed. "Go ahead."_

_Levinson nodded as he moved to the machine and picked up the clear glass mug. Cam watched as he began to pour into a Styrofoam cup before he started watching Jacob as he slipped the headset back on. She watched as his attention changed and his pouring hand relaxed slightly, sending the freshly boiled coffee onto the back of his hand._

_Levinson's quick cry of pain had Teal'c on his feet, Cam close behind him, her own nerves pulled too tight. "Sorry, sorry," Levinson replied as he picked the cup up, having dropped it in his pain. "It won't happen again." He sighed and wiped his hand off. "I've just kinda been on a short fuse since I found out about Tommy."_

_Teal'c nodded once as he sat down. "I understand," he replied._

_"I had to find out from his college roommates 'cause, uh." Levinson seemed a bit embarrassed. "Tommy and me hadn't been talking for something like six months before they sucked him in." Cam sighed as she slowly sat down before she looked at Teal'c, he looked confused._

_"I do not understand," he replied to Levinson. "How could a father not speak to his son for so long a time?"_

_Levinson nodded slightly. "Yeah, that's the funny thing about it," he said. "I don't even remember why." He sighed. "Obviously something pretty stupid in the scheme of things." He sighed again before he seemed to remember what Jacob had said. "I'll get out of your hair."_

_He quickly made another cup of coffee before he hurriedly moved out of the tent._

_Teal'c waited until he had left before he looked at Jacob curiously. "Do human parents not love their children unconditionally?" he asked him._

_Jacob sighed. "Sometimes things get complicated," he told him._

_Teal'c frowned. "Many things are complicated, General Carter," he said. "In Jaffa society, loving one's children is not one of them."_

_Jacob sighed again. "In human society, sometimes it is," he said._

_Cam sighed as she leaned back in her seat. "My birth parents are proof enough of that," she said sourly._

* * *

_"General Carter, there is a problem!" Teal'c said, looking up, a worried expression on his face._

_The tent flap fluttering caught Cam's attention as she shot to her feet and moved over to them, picking up a headset as she did so, seeing Hamner there. "What?" he asked._

_"It's nothing we can't handle," Jacob said as Cam sat down and grabbed his pen and a scrap of paper._

_"He made your people didn't he?" Hamner asked as he moved closer._

_Cam shook her head as she let Kel'an write what she heard. "It doesn't sound like it," she said. "He's commented on something Sam was last year."_

**"Who sent you?"**_Seth asked._** "The System Lords? The Tok'ra?"**_He seemed to growl in frustration as Cam hurriedly wrote down in Goa'uld._**"I am your god! You will tell me what I want to know!"**_There was a pained pause._**"Who does your military work for? The System lords or the Tok'ra?!"**

**Don't say anything Sam, please, **_Kel'an silently begged her._**Don't!**

"I have a vague recollection of what you're talking about,"_ Sam said. _"The Tok'ra."

Too late, _Cam commented._

_"Is it not time enough?" Teal'c asked, drawing Cam out of what she had been listening to._

_She noticed that the tent was empty of any men in ATF uniforms._**_"No choice," _**_Selmak agreed with him._**_"Do it now!"_**

_Teal'c nodded slightly as he flipped the switched that activated the earpieces. Cam closed her eyes and listened once more to the others._

"We work for a deprogrammer,"_ Jack began after a short pause, _"who hired us to remove one of your disciples."

"But now we are enjoying the bliss that is Seth,"_ Daniel continued._

**"How is it possible that you enjoy the bliss when you are able to lie to Seth?"**_Seth asked them._

Oh crap, _Cam thought as her hand froze in her writing. _Not good!

**Definitely.**

_Cam pulled the headset off as Teal'c and her father got to their feet._

* * *

_Cam stood by the entrance to the tunnels, waiting for Sam, Jack and Daniel to come up with the former worshippers. She ignored the ATF men that had asked, pleaded and ordered her to go back to the tent 'where she would be safer' up to the point of looking pointedly at her father who merely smiled and nodded for her to remain._

I've been in more danger from a possible rebel Reetou attack, _Cam mused to Kel'. _How much more dangerous is a 'gun' fight going to be?

**Hopefully not too much, **_Kel' told her._**I don't want to have to heal any injuries you get from anything like it.**

_Cam smiled before Jacob moved to her side. "You getting anything kid?" he asked her._

_Cam shook her head. "I can't sense anyone yet," she told him. "It may be because none of them except for Seth and Sam are or have been hosts."_

_She looked over her father's shoulder at Hamner who was walking purposefully towards them. She jerked her head at him, causing Jacob to turn his head and look at him, with a helpful smile on his face._

_"Okay," Hamner growled at them. "I think I've been a very patient man –"_

_He was cut off as Cam saw the hint of someone climbing up out of the tunnel. She gently grabbed the person's arm as they reached out for help, a hood covering their face. The lack of feeling of another symbiote told her it wasn't Sam or Seth. Hamner helped her by grabbing the other person's arm and pulling them up and out, revealing more people. Hamner turned and looked at his men that were now coming forwards to help._

_"Let's get all the medical teams up here stat!" he ordered one of his men that nodded and grabbed his radio, shouting orders into it. "Get some blankets and shoes!" He looked at the men that were hanging around the edges, unsure of what to do. "Come on you guys, get in here!"_

_Cam helped out several other people, searching for the familiar feeling of a symbiote in each of them before moving onto the others. Cam looked down when roughly twenty people had been helped out and saw a gap. She turned and nodded to her father._

_"I'm gonna go in," she told him. "Help escort them out."_

_Jacob nodded and waited until Hamner and various other ATF personnel weren't looking before he ushered her to the tunnel entrance. Cam smiled at Jacob for a moment before she slid down the ladder, not bothering to climb down the rungs as she watched more men and women walking towards the ladder._

_She smiled and gestured at them. "Come on," she called to them. "Climb on up."_

_She moved to the side and quickly searched her feelings for any symbiote reactions and shook her head slightly. _I'm not feeling anything, _she told Kel'._

**Neither am I, **_she replied after a moment._

_She watched the people walk passed her and climb up into the daylight above them for a few minutes, checking her feelings with Kel' as they searched the people for any sign of Seth. They watched as the people crowded around the bottom of the ladder as they waited, one by one, for their chance to get out._

_"General Carter!" Teal'c broke Cam's concentration as he shouted for Jacob. "Our friends have been neutralised." Cam felt her stomach, which had already been heavy with worry, sink closer to her feet with his statement. "I must go in. I believe Selmak would be of help."_

_"Who's Selmak?" Hamner asked from one side of the tunnel opening._

_"Sadly that's extremely high above your current security clearance!" Cam called up to him as the people at the bottom of the ladder made room for Jacob to climb down._

_She saw him start down the ladder before he paused. "Teal'c!" he called, obviously trying to gain the former Jaffa's attention. "Stay outside and cover the other ends." He seemed to sigh. "Make sure he doesn't get out another way." With that he climbed down the rest of the ladder and moved away from the entrance, slipping one hand into his tactical vest pocket to pull out something._

_"What's going on dad?" Cam asked him as she pulled out her berretta and readied it._

_"Setesh used a hand device on Colonel O'Neill and Daniel," he told her as he pulled out a hand device and pulled back his left sleeve so he could pull it on. "Keep an eye out here will you?"_

_Cam nodded. "I am already," she told him. "Go on." She watched as he moved down the corridor, checking hoods out as Sam moved into her line of sight, rushing up to their dad before they moved around a corner._

_Cam nodded slightly again even as she continued to scan the people as they went by her before she moved closer to the ladder._**Look! **_Kel' directed her._

_Cam turned her head slightly and saw her parents walking towards her. Fear settled automatically in her chest before she looked up at the entrance of the tunnel._

**Call him! **_Kel' urged her, following her line of thought._

_Cam sighed as she nodded; Teal'c had expressed a wish shortly after she had met him to meet her birth parents when he had eventually found out about her past._

_"Teal'c!" she shouted up._

_There was a pained pause._

_"Camilla Carter?" she heard Teal'c respond after a moment._

_("You expressed a wish to speak with my birth parents,") she stated calmly, speaking quickly in Goa'uld, hoping that her grammar wasn't as bad as Kel'an was telling her it was._

_("Yes.") He sounded slightly confused._

_("They are coming this way, quickly,") she told him, even as her parents reached the ladder._

_She felt her trigger finger twitch slightly as she tightened her grip on her berretta for a moment before they started up the ladder. ("Thank you,") Teal'c told her as he appeared at the top and helped them up out of the tunnel._

_Cam kept scanning the people that passed by her, following Jacob's orders in checking the people out. She frowned slightly when she saw both Jacob and Sam walking around the corner of the tunnel, with Jacob's left arm draped almost painfully around Sam's shoulders while he limped slightly. She ran through the crowded tunnel as more and more people moved through it. She paused when she reached them and frowned again._

_"What hit you?" she asked them._

_"Setesh used a hand device," Jacob told her with a slight wince. "Caught both Selmak and myself off guard."_

_"So he's dead?"_

_"Yeah."_

_Cam nodded as she moved to Jacob's other side and pulled his arm around her shoulders, bringing more of his weight onto her. "Don't even dad," Sam said, interrupting him as he began to speak. "Selmak'll heal you quicker if he doesn't have to worry about working with other sympathetic damages to the rest of you."_

_Jacob nodded after a moment as they slowly reached the tunnel entrance._

* * *

_Cam sighed as she walked into the ATF tent where she had left most of her own things that she had brought with her. Her berretta was already hidden back in the small of her back as she moved through the desks, picking up her notes and placing them in the small file she had carried in a small bag._

Now it's time to go meet Mark, _she commented to Kel' as she closed the file happily._

**Your very much older brother. In human terms of course; Martouf is one hundred years your senior. **

Don't remind me! _She reached for her small bag and began to place the file inside._

_She paused as she felt someone watching her. She froze, feeling Kel' beginning the process of pumping adrenaline throughout her body as she slowly stood up._

_"Teal'c?" she called, hoping it was just the Jaffa watching out for her. "That you T?" There was still no response. "Sam?" There wasn't a reply. "Jack? Daniel? Teach?" The only thing she could hear was the sound of the leaves outside the tent resulting in the slight breeze. "Jacob?"_

_She turned around slowly, her hand slowly reaching for her berretta at Kel's silent insistence. A hand from behind her grabbed her wrist, bringing it away from the gun and up towards her right shoulder blade. She bit her lip in pain as she remembered that it was her right hand that had been reaching for the berretta._

_"Don't move you worthless bitch," she heard a feminine voice speak in her right ear before her arm was jerked up._

_Kel'an smothered her scream of agony to a gasp as she felt the muscles tear away from the bone as it snapped her lower arm._Thanks, _she gasped in pain._

_She grunted slightly as something cut across her face, definitely bruising her cheek as her head snapped to her left side. She spat blood out as she felt it pool in her mouth and looked at the person who had attacked her. Her birth father, Peter Alma, looked at her with disdain as he held an army assault rifle in his hands._

_"You're a pathetic piece of shit, you know that?" he said. "You couldn't even die properly."_

_He began to raise the assault rifle, ready to fire it as Cam closed her eyes. _**It'll hurt a bit, **_Kel'an told her calmly._

I know, _Cam replied tiredly, waiting to hear the shot and feel the burn. _I was hoping to see a bit more of Earth and the galaxy.

**So was I, **_Kel'an told her as she wrapped her host in a mental embrace, numbing several nerves throughout their body, expecting the final shot. It never came._

_"Please, give me a good reason to fire my gun," they heard Jack speak from in front of them, but behind Peter. "You even think of firing the weapon and I'll drill one into your skull right here." There was a silent pause. "Now, how about you lower that or my friends here will say you attacked me."_

_As Cam heard the assault rifle being put down, she felt the grip around her damaged arm loosen before she fell to her knees, her other hand catching part of her fall. She groaned as the pain in her right arm soared for a moment before Kel'an numbed a bit more._

_"Teal'c, do you mind taking care of the father?" Jacob spoke now from somewhere near._

_"I do not," the Jaffa replied after a moment, anger clear in his voice. "Indeed, I would find it an honour to deal with him."_

_"Carter and Daniel will take care of the mother then. I'll help you with the father Teal'c." Jack sighed. "Alright. Move it out!"_

_The feeling of Sarah, Cam's birth mother, disappeared from behind her. Cam kept her eyes closed as she slowly breathed and moved her right arm around in front of her so that she could weakly hug her arm to close to her body._

_"I got ya kid," Jacob spoke from her left side as he crouched down._

_Cam slowly opened her eyes and watched as he carefully wrapped her left arm around his neck and moved an arm under her knees before he stood up, lifting her up into his arms as his other arm supported her upper back. "Thanks," she muttered quietly as he slowly carried her out of the tent and towards a waiting truck._

_Jacob said nothing as he gently set her down in the back seat of the truck before he looked at her. "Why didn't you tell me they were part of his followers?" he asked her._

_Cam swallowed convulsively for a moment before she bowed her head and closed her eyes, mentally stepping aside; practically begging Kel' to take control. Kel'an easily took her place and lifted her head when the exchange was over._

**_"She knew we all were more worried about what Setesh was doing," _**_she told Jacob quietly, being wary of the ATF men nearby._**_ "We both did not wish to add worry to everyone when it was not necessary."_**

_"When did you first find out about them being part of it?"_

**_"When the others were entering the complex; through the tunnels."_**

_Jacob nodded in understanding. "Alright," he said eventually. "Let me have a look."_

**_"It is broken." _**_Jacob looked at her as she gingerly moved her arm so that he could take it and look at the oddly hanging appendage._**_"I felt the damage."_**

_Jacob nodded as he carefully looked at it, turning her arm slowly to look at everything before he nodded once more. "It'll take while to get everything re-attached," he agreed before he pulled out his pressure bandage. "It won't completely work, but it'll do."_

_Kel'an nodded as he grabbed a sturdy stick, breaking it in half and pressing it on both sides of her arm. Kel'an wordlessly held the two with her free hand as he used the pressure bandage to splint the bone. When Jacob was done Kel'an moved to the side, gently nudging Cam back into control._

_"I'm sorry, dad," she said, her voice quiet and meek in the noise of the ATF around them._

_Jacob looked her curiously before he carefully pulled her close to him, embracing her tightly. "Don't," he told her. "You did what you thought was right." He shook his head. "Just don't do it again."_

_Cam nodded. "I won't," she promised._

_Jacob nodded, a smile on his face. "Good," he said before he pressed a gentle kiss to the crown of her head. "See that you don't."_

_Cam chuckled quietly in response._

* * *

**_TWO DAYS LATER_**

_Cam walked behind her father and sister as she took in the sight of the pastel yellow house in front of them, the front garden delightfully littered with young children's toys. Her right arm was draped inside a sling with a simple splint for the bone. Jacob wore a simple black leather jacket over the base uniform, while Sam wore a grey coat over hers. Jacob stopped before he turned to look at Sam who pulled him into a quick, reassuring embrace._

_She smiled slightly as Jacob, almost reluctantly, walked up to the door and knocked twice. After a moment a man answered the door. He seemed to start beginning to say 'I don't want what you sell' before he stopped and looked at Jacob. This was Mark. Jacob held his arms open to him, waiting to embrace him. After a moment Mark stepped forwards and embraced his father. When they pulled back from each other Mark turned back to the house and gestured to someone inside._

_Cam felt her smile widen as Jacob grinned and crouched down as a little girl, of around five with platinum blonde hair, launched herself into his arms with a giggle. Jacob stood up as he pressed a gentle kiss to his granddaughter's temple before Mark stepped aside, motioning for him to come inside._

* * *

_Sam turned to look at her sister as she looked on what was happening. She carefully wrapped an arm around her shoulders, being careful of her arm, and steered her towards Mark. She let go only long enough after having climbed onto the patio to hug Mark before she stepped inside. She turned as she pulled her own jacket off only to see Cam and Mark speaking for a moment before he pulled her close in a brotherly hug. She smiled slightly as she hung up her jacket on the peg by the door before moving into the living room to meet her nieces._

* * *

**Chapter 5: How To Poison The Well**

Martouf sighed as he absently clicked his neck with his free hand – the other held his Staff weapon – as the leader of the people of Hoff led SGA-1 down a long corridor inside an Earth style modern building. This was the second Atlantis-standard day he had spent on the planet without the chance to spar against anyone and he realised his nerves were beginning to fray slightly.

Chancellor Druhin, the leader, stopped by a barred door and opened it, revealing a large laboratory that had several generators in just the visible section as Druhin stepped to the side, allowing them entrance. "Reliable power generation is one of our greatest concerns," Druhin said. "With this project, we hope, soon, to be able to convert and utilise the heat trap beneath the surface of our planet."

Martouf gently nudged McKay with his Staff weapon when he sensed the Canadian about to criticize the natives, effectively making him be quiet as the scientist winced slightly at the pain in his leg. "Looks like you're accomplishing great things here, Chancellor," Sheppard said politely as he held his P-90 in front of him while it was pointed downwards.

Druhin nodded once. "Since the last Wraith culling, we have worked diligently to rebuild our society," he replied.

"Are you not concerned that your efforts will attract the attention of the Wraith?" Teyla asked from where she stood by the door.

Druhin nodded in response. "Yes," he grudgingly admitted. "But we refuse to let that stop us from striving to reach our potential." He smiled slightly. "To do otherwise would simply mean victory for them. However, we currently are working on a viable defence."

Martouf felt his eyebrows rise as he looked at Sheppard who had a similar expression. "Defence?" the Tok'ra asked him, astonished. "Really?" McKay was looking around the lab, walking carefully around before he walked back, curious. "We have been here for two days now and you did not mention it?"

Druhin bowed his head slightly. "I had to learn that you could be trusted," he responded.

"Huh!" McKay commented.

"You're talking about some sort of defensive weapon?" Ford asked.

Druhin nodded once. "You could call it that," he said. "Something we hope will protect us from the next Wraith culling."

Martouf shared a side look at McKay. "So you are expecting it to happen again?" the scientist asked.

Druhin nodded again. "Of course," he replied. "But if the Wraith return as they have historically, they won't be here for at least another fifty years."

Martouf shot Sheppard a dark look, sensing McKay doing something similar. "Fifty years, you say," McKay commented.

Sheppard seemed to flush slightly. "How 'bout that weapon?" he asked, an embarrassed tone entering his voice.

Druhin smiled and nodded. "Yes, yes," he said as he gestured to the open door. "If you'll just come this way."

He walked out, leading Teyla and Ford out. Martouf looked at Sheppard for a moment longer before he followed after them, carefully swinging his Staff weapon so that it clicked into the holster on his back.

* * *

Martouf walked behind Sheppard as they entered another complex that Druhin was leading them through. The complex was above ground as he saw several windows letting in the sunlight that now dimly lit the white corridors they walked in.

**_Grim place this is, _**Lantash commented.

Martouf could only nod in response as Druhin stopped and unlocked a door in front of them. "Reminds you of Area 51 doesn't it?" McKay asked absently.

"Circa 1918," Sheppard agreed.

Martouf frowned at that; he had spent many months reading about the history of the American people, including that of Area 51 and as far as his memory went Area 51 had not existed at the time.

"I don't think Area 51 was around in 1918, sir," Ford said, confirming the Tok'ra's belief.

"Well," Sheppard conceded. "The area was."

"True!" McKay replied before Druhin led them into a laboratory.

As he entered the laboratory, Martouf looked around and felt part of his heart sink in worry. "I do not think that a weapon lays here, Major," he said. "I have seen many a small weapon, but I doubt a weapon can be made small or large enough that I worry about its existence."

"Weapons come in all shapes and sizes, Martouf," Sheppard told him.

Martouf merely rolled his eyes. **_We should know, _**Lantash grumbled. **_We've used weapons small enough they could be called rings._**

_I know, _Martouf agreed. _I remember only because you do._

He barely managed to control the shudder that tore through him at the memory of the Tok'ra human alliance that he had very nearly destroyed with killing his leader.

"Major Sheppard," Druhin called as a scientist handed him a test tube of coloured liquid. "I think you'll find this interesting."

Sheppard stepped forwards and gently took the test tube as it was offered to him before he looked at it. The Major nodded.

"Okay," he said. "I'm intrigued." He handed the test tube to Ford as he stepped up behind him. "What is it?"

"Something that we hope will one day make us completely immune to the Wraith," Druhin told him, his face grim.

* * *

Cam sighed as she sat next to her brother in the conference room. He had returned from the planet called Hoff a few hours before and he sat next to her wearing fresh clothing. Teyla sat on her other side while Sheppard and McKay sat on Martouf's other side.

"According to Chancellor Druhin the drug is still several years away from being finished," Teyla told Elizabeth.

McKay shook his head and leaned forwards slightly. "I'd say," he began carefully, "given their current level of technology, that, er, could be an understatement." He shook his head again. "Just because they believe they're close to a breakthrough, it doesn't mean that they are."

Teyla shook her head and looked at the Canadian. "You saw for yourself," she said. "Their entire civilization is based on the completion of that goal, Dr. McKay. I would not under-estimate them."

"Do we even know for certain that the Wraith are an immediate threat?" Elizabeth intervened.

Sheppard shrugged. "We can probably bet they don't have fifty years," he commented.

"Hence Major Sheppard has generously offered our help to the Hoffans," McKay put in.

One of Elizabeth's eyebrows rose as she turned to look at the man. "Has he?" she asked him calmly.

As Cam looked at Sheppard, he had the dignity to flush slightly. "Look," he said. "The fact is, if they're onto something, maybe we can speed up the process."

"Okay, Major," Elizabeth conceded. "You have a go. But if the drug is just a pipe dream…"

"Our Dr. Beckett's already volunteered to help us find that out," Sheppard continued absently.

"Oh he has, huh?"

Sheppard shrugged nonchalantly at her. "He will," he replied.

Cam smirked at that. _Poor Carson, _she commented.

**_Poor man's being volunteered for something he hasn't agreed to, _**Kel'an agreed. **_The poor, poor man._**

Cam forced the giggle that rose back before she looked between Elizabeth and Sheppard. "I'd like to join you," she said carefully. "In case."

* * *

Cam rolled her shoulders slightly as she walked down a dark access tunnel on Hoff. She kept the motion small as she became aware of the Staff holster on her back while she carefully dodged a low hanging metal pipe from the ceiling in the middle of the tunnel. She chuckled as she saw Sheppard gently pushing Carson forwards. Martouf was in front of him, using his Staff weapon to lean on as he walked. On Sheppard's left McKay walked quickly, matching the Major's pace while Cam walked next to Teyla.

"It's not that I mind lending people a hand…" Carson began to protest.

"No, of course not," Sheppard commented.

"You're a generous man," McKay complemented the Scottish doctor.

"… but it's the principle of the thing isn't it?" Carson continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "You can't go volunteering someone for something without consulting them first. That's not even volunteering, is it?"

Cam shook her head. "Nope," she agreed with him. "It's conscription!"

"Exactly!" Carson exclaimed. "It's being pressed into service. Not to mention the fact that I'm not –"

"Not military, I can't give you orders," Sheppard interrupted with a weary tone of voice. "I know."

"Nonononono!" McKay interrupted then, speaking quickly. "He just doesn't like going through the Stargate."

"He's worse than Dr. McCoy!" Sheppard complemented him.

Teyla frowned. "Who?" she asked curiously.

Sheppard turned his head slightly to look at her. "A TV character that Dr. Beckett plays in real life," he told her.

Cam smiled and saw Teyla's still confused expression. "Please remind me after this mission is over," she said quietly to her, "to have you watch a show called Star Trek."

Teyla frowned again but nodded. "Of course," she agreed.

* * *

Cam sighed as she leaned heavily against her Staff weapon as Carson walked through the lab they now stood in, looking at various pieces of equipment and technology. He paused and picked up a small rack of test tubes, having a look at them as Sheppard walked over to him.

"Should you be messing with that stuff?" he asked him.

Carson sent him a withering glare. "I know what I'm doing, Major," he replied. "Thank you." He placed the rack back down and gestured around him. "From the looks of things they've mastered a few basics – biochemistry, physiology, perhaps even some form of molecular biology." He sighed. "Fairly impressive considering –"

Cam looked over at one entrance as woman stepped inside. "It's our people's legacy," she gently interrupted him. "This room represents hundreds of years of medical knowledge." Cam smirked slightly when she saw the Scottish doctor turn and stare at her, instantly besotted. "I am Perna," the woman introduced herself almost as if she felt as if she had forgotten some code of conduct. "Chief scientist for the project."

When Cam, however, looked at Sheppard and McKay, she shook her head as she saw that they were both taken with her. She spared a glance at her brother and saw him shaking his own head in quiet disgrace.

"John Sheppard," Sheppard began, introducing himself before he gestured vaguely to the others. "Uh, and this is Teyla, Lieutenant Ford."

Cam smirked again as she saw the soppy smile on Carson's face. "Carson," he said, introducing himself. "Beckett. Doctor." He clarified before he blushed slightly as he smiled slightly at her. "I mean, call me Carson."

Cam shared another look with her brother as she mouthed one word: _'Love'. _Martouf merely shook his head again, even as McKay introduced himself rather clumsily. Perna looked at both of them curiously.

Cam nodded her head politely. "I am Camilla Carter," she introduced herself.

Martouf bowed at her side. "I am Martouf," he said politely.

Perna nodded before she looked back at Carson and Sheppard. "I hope you will find our facilities suitable," she said.

Carson smiled. "Oh, they're charming!" he commented happily. "Perfectly charming!" He grinned then, his simple smile widening.

* * *

Cam sighed as she sat down on the stool near Carson, consciously feeling protective towards the physician. Perna took down a book from on top of a large cupboard before she climbed down the ladder and carried it over to where Carson sat, waiting patiently.

"His name was Ferrel Mylan," Perna told him as she gingerly set the book down. "Before he died in the last culling, he was one of our most celebrated medical researchers. He was the one who found it."

Cam frowned, as did Carson. "May I ask what?" she asked carefully.

Perna nodded and gestured for her to come over as she opened the book. Cam grunted as she got to her feet and leaned against her Staff weapon as she limped over.

"The key," Perna answered. "His journals tell of one man who survived an encounter with the Wraith. Ferrel and his team discovered that this man possessed a unique protein, one that enabled him to resist the chemical released by the Wraith to precipitate draining of life from their victims." Cam noticed a small shudder run through the young woman's shoulders as she carefully leafed through the book. "After painstaking trial and error…"

Cam and Carson looked down at the book in a sense of awe and wonder. "Ferrel made a copy of the protein," Carson said.

Perna nodded. "He was eventually able to create a prototype of a drug to interfere with the Wraith feeding process."

Cam looked at the woman in shock. "And it worked?!" she asked her.

"Ferrel was killed before the drug could be used to defend Hoff," Perna admitted.

"And it's been your job to make certain his work wasn't in vain," Carson continued.

Cam nodded in respect. "That is quite the responsibility," she commented.

"It is a great honour," Perna absently corrected.

**_Indeed it is, _**Kel'an agreed. **_To continue a man's work to save your people is an honour._**

Cam smiled slightly, even as a small shot of pain tore through her, forcing her eyes shut as she leaned even more against her Staff weapon. _I agree, _she replied through gritted teeth, even as Kel'an soothed the pained nerves. She took a deep breath and released it after a moment. _I wish that wouldn't start up._

**_So do I Cam', _**Kel'an commented, even as she urged Cam to open her eyes.

The Tok'ra opened her eyes and saw Carson looking at her with a concerned look, Perna a few feet behind him, unsure of what to do. "You alright lass?" he asked her.

Cam nodded and slowly stood up straighter, realising she had hunched over slightly with the pain. "I'm fine," she told him. "It's just old scars making themselves known. I'll be fine."

Carson frowned at her before she carefully made her way to her stool and sat down with a relieved sigh.

* * *

Cam kept her eyes focused on the Wraith as he paced inside the Ancient forcefield cell. She could easily see his jerky movements that told her he was hungry: like he had been for the last few days she had come and kept watch over him, sparing a few of the Marines the chore. Her Zat gun was in her right hand as she wore her hand device on her left.

She barely twitched as she heard the sound of the transporter doors opening as they admitted someone into the corridor facing the brig. She turned her head and looked at Sheppard as he entered; his base jacket on minus the tactical vest he had been wearing on Hoff.

"Anything I should know about Carter?" he asked her as he nodded at her.

Cam shrugged at him. "Depends," she said. "He's been quiet."

Sheppard nodded, even as they both ignored the Wraith that had turned to face the newcomer to the room. "Still trying to make you see things?"

Cam shook her head. "He's given up on that hope," she told him as she looked at her watch, "oh, about an hour or so ago." She shared a smirk with the Major. "It took me eating a sandwich to shut him up."

He nodded at her as they both looked at the Wraith who now sat quietly on the small bed provided. "I didn't think he'd last this long," he commented before he walked over to the bars, forcing the Wraith to look at him.

"Hello again, Major Sheppard." Kel'an forced Cam's shudder to the side, hiding from the Wraith at the slightly double-tone voice he had, sounding eerily similar to that of the Tok'ra.

Sheppard nodded at him as the Wraith stood up. "Sorry if I woke you," he said calmly. "Just came by to see if there's anything you need – magazine?" he asked. "Fresh towels?"

The Wraith cocked his head slightly at him, seeming to look at him. "You hide your fear poorly, Major," he commented.

Sheppard merely looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Y'know," he began conversationally. "We've been having these conversations for a couple of weeks now, and I don't even know your name." He cocked his own head slightly. "You guys do have names, right?" The Wraith just looked at him. "Let me guess…" He seemed to think as he turned his head away for a moment, looking at Cam before an idea seemed to strike him and he looked back at the Wraith. "…Steve?!"

"I am your death," the Wraith told him. "That is all you need to know."

Sheppard nodded after a moment. "I prefer Steve," he said before he looked at Cam, turning his body to give her his full attention. "What do you think Carter? Kel'an?"

Cam bowed her head as she felt a light nudge at her mind. Kel'an lifted her head and lifted it with a smile as she stood up from the wall.

**"I prefer it as well Major," **she said. **"It is much preferable to those that I have heard from the Marines." **She gave him a smile as they both looked at Steve as he stepped up to the edge of his cell, just before the shield would activate.

"What do you hope to gain from this?" Steve asked him.

Sheppard shrugged at him. "Just trying to bridge the gap between our two cultures," he said, "get to know you better. That and try to figure out how to keep your kind from sucking the life out of millions of innocent people."

The Wraith continued to look at him. "Even if I told you what you want to know, it would change nothing," he snarled. "You are doomed – as are any humans that stand in our way."

Sheppard frowned then. "Can't be a nice way to die," he commented. "Hungry, slowly, knowing your food source is just…" He held up a hand and grasped at the air in front of him. "Out of reach," he continued.

Kel'an smirked slightly as Steve roared and lunged forwards, attacking, before the forcefield activated and he hit it instead. The Wraith merely roared again in rage.

"Why do you keep me here?" he snarled furiously at them before he started to pace angrily around the cell.

"I need to know what we're up against," Sheppard continued amicably. "For example, how many of those big hive ships have you got and where are they?" He smiled at him.

"You have nothing to offer me in return," Steve smirked at him as he stopped pacing.

Sheppard shrugged. "We could talk about easing your hunger," he said and Steve looked at him, "Steve."

The Wraith sneered. "You would never sacrifice one of your own kind," he said. "And yet, it is all that stands between you and the information you seek."

* * *

Kel'an sat in the conference room as Carson took a report that was handed to him from a female member of the expedition. He looked at it for a moment before he nodded and continued to walk around as he continued speaking.

"Using living Wraith cells is our only recourse at this juncture," he continued. "Without them we have no way of knowing for certain if the drug is actually viable."

Teyla, who sat next to Kel'an, frowned. "You said it worked effectively on the cell of the severed Wraith arm we brought back," she said, confused.

"It did," Carson agreed with her. "But those were already in a partially decayed state." He sighed. "We need live samples."

"And with new samples you think it's possible to create a prototype?" Elizabeth asked him.

Carson nodded as he eventually stopped walking. "Given enough time," he replied. "Yes I do."

McKay nodded at him. "He's got a good point," he said. "The Hoffans are practically obsessed."

Carson smiled slightly at him. "Thank you, Rodney," he said, surprised.

Teyla smiled as she looked at McKay. "I agree, Dr.," she said before she looked at Elizabeth. "But their obsession may be their undoing."

McKay shrugged. "Well, even if they do," he began before he paused, searching for a word, "…undo, it'd be good for us." He looked at the others. "I mean, given a choice, wouldn't you want to be immune."

Kel'an shrugged. **"Before leaving the Milky Way, I had heard that there is drug that is designed to kill all symbiotes and their hosts like those of the Jaffa. Scores of Tok'ra have been killed amoung the Jaffa that they controlled in ruses of power,"** she said. **"I would like for all the Tok'ra to be immune, but I would not like to force this drug on the lives that the others might spare."**

Teyla nodded. "I would not take this drug if it meant the lives the Wraith might otherwise spare," she agreed. "This drug would only be of value if everyone, everywhere, possessed the same immunity."

Sheppard nodded as he pointed at her in agreement. "There's a thought worth pursuing," he said.

Elizabeth nodded. "I agree," she commented before she looked at Sheppard. "Major, have you made any progress with your prisoner?"

Sheppard shrugged. "Well, not yet," he admitted as he shared a look with Kel'an who merely smiled in response. "But he just blinked."

McKay looked at him curiously. "He blinked?" he asked him. "What does that mean?"

Sheppard smirked. "It means he's still holding on but he's indicated to me that he may break soon," he explained calmly.

"And he indicated this to you by…" McKay asked him incredulously. "Blinking?!"

Sheppard nodded. "Yes."

Carson shook his head as he leaned against one of the tables that were near him. "No offence, Major," he began carefully, "but so far he hasn't told you a thing. For all we know he could linger this way for months and ultimately learn nothing."

Teyla nodded. "The Wraith could be on their way to Hoff as we speak," she said. "If your prisoner holds the key to the creation of this drug, should we not take advantage of this?"

Elizabeth sighed as she leaned back in her chair. "How can we get the sample off him safely?" she asked then.

Kel'an sighed herself as she scrubbed her face. "We still posses the weapons used in his capture," she heard Teyla comment as she kept her eyes covered as she continued to think. "It would a simple matter of incapacitating him again."

"So, then, it's possible?" Elizabeth asked.

Kel'an nodded as she let her hand fall away. **"It is," **she agreed. **"We need to be quick with our approach though."**

* * *

Cam sighed as she followed Sheppard into the brig, wearing her hand device while Ford walked next to her carrying a Wraith stunner. They both paused by the entrance while Sheppard walked over to the cell. He nodded at Cam who merely smiled in response and swiped her hand over the locks by where she stood. She noticed the Wraith crouched opposite her, his arms bent and out from his body as he balanced, facing away from the cell door as it opened. Sheppard took a few steps forward.

"Hi Steve," he said.

The rumble of the Wraith growling echoed in the air as it stood and turned. "Bye, Steve," Ford said as he raised his weapon.

Cam stood her ground as Steve ran towards them while she raised her left arm and the hand device. After a moment she sensed the orb in her palm glowing before a shockwave left it. She watched with fascination as it hurtled passed Sheppard, leaving him unaffected while it hit Steve and sent him hurtling into the back of the cell with a thud. She heard a screeching buzz as Ford fired his Wraith stunner.

With a grunt a pain the Wraith started forwards again, growling. Cam frowned as she sent another wave before Ford fired another shot. With a groan Steve sank to his knees before he fell backwards, his eyes sliding shut over his snake-like eyes as his body just relaxed.

Cam lifted her berretta and stepped closer to the Wraith, aiming it at him. "Dr.!" Sheppard called from in front of her.

She heard the quiet steps of Carson walking into the room with his portable medical kit. She heard his nervousness in his footsteps as he did so.

"Is he…?" he began to ask. "I mean, you're certain he's…?"

"He's down, doc," Ford told him. "Do your thing."

Carson sighed as he stepped around him and moved round to squat down at the Wraith's side.

"Almost looks peaceful, doesn't he?" Ford asked after a moment.

Cam frowned as she looked at him. "Peaceful?!" she asked him worriedly.

"You're out of your bloody mind!" Carson said as he looked at him in shock.

* * *

**SEVERAL DAYS LATER**

Cam sighed as she leaned against the barrier on the balcony outside the Gateroom. She looked out on the city that the search teams had only just started to explore in the months before. A data-pad hung in the shoulder bag she had started to carry around with her when she had started to get a lot of Ancient writing that required translations.

**_This city is much larger than we had originally thought, _**she heard Kel'an comment. **_Extremely._**

Cam nodded in agreement. _Definitely, _she agreed before she heard the doors onto the balcony hiss open.

She didn't turn her heard as she heard the sound of Tok'ra boots moving over the metal surface. Martouf had joined her as he leaned against the balcony next to her.

"Anything interesting?" he asked her carefully.

Cam nodded in response. "The view," she replied drolly. "You?" She turned to look at him.

He shrugged at her. "How are your translations coming along?" he asked her calmly.

Cam glared at him. "Two of thirty-six," she answered as she looked back at the view of the city that balcony offered. "I don't understand how they expect me to go through all of their pieces of Ancient when I am working with Sheppard and his team."

Martouf chuckled. "Because you have spent most of your time translating when you yourself have been searching the city," he told her. "Are you willing to back to Hoff?"

Cam shrugged. "I'm getting the feeling that the Hoff are willing to go to any lengths to stop the Wraith," she told him. "I don't like the feeling that Druhin was more than willing to start the basic production of the drug." She shuddered. "I wish to stay here. I feel better and safer here."

Martouf nodded. "That's your wish," he agreed. "It's your decision."

Cam smiled, relaxing slightly. "It just means that I can catch up on the translations that I need to get done."

Martouf chuckled as he put an arm around her, pulling her close. "You do that Cam," he said. "Do what you have to do."

Cam nodded as she embraced her brother in reply.

* * *

Cam sighed as she sat in the now empty conference room, several images lay in front of her on one of the segmented tables. There were sheets of lined paper with notes written all over them. A pen lay discarded near the edge of the table while Cam merely sat at the table, her head resting on one hand while she carefully noted down the translation of a piece of Ancient for Zelenka's team.

"OI!" she heard, startling her out of her concentration as Ancient words began to float in front of her eyes. "Carter!"

Cam looked over at her shoulder at the open doors of the conference room and saw Sheppard leaning against the segment that stood right behind her. "Yeah?" she asked him tiredly.

"I need some help getting Steve off-world," he said. "You want to help?"

Cam shuddered at the mention of the Wraith. "I, personally, would rather not," she replied as she carefully stood up. "Why do you ask?"

"Beckett's certain that something is going to go wrong with the drug," he told her. "He wants as many medical staff as he can take through for now."

Cam looked at him carefully as she leaned against the table, carefully moving the images and notes out of the way before she did so. "Guard duty?"

Sheppard shrugged. "You're an ambassador," he responded. "You don't have to do anything to get your hands dirty."

Cam nodded. "I'll help," she said. "Wraith prisoner an' all."

* * *

Cam watched as the two guards carefully herded the Wraith into the back of the Jumper. His hands and legs were cuffed together although they were padded slightly. She watched as two guards stood outside of the Jumper, their weapons raised at him as all three sat down, the Wraith between the two guards who also had their weapons levelled at him. She nodded at Sheppard who sat in the pilot's seat as she sat behind Ford.

The rear hatch started closing as a voice echoed over the comm. system's speakers. **_"Jumper 2, this is Weir," _**Elizabeth said. **_"What's your status?"_**

Sheppard nodded. "Nice and cosy in here," he replied. "We're ready to depart."

There was a short pause. **_"Be safe, Major," _**Elizabeth said.

"That's the plan."

**_"Jumper 2, you are go for launch," _**a Gate technician spoke.

Sheppard nodded again as he turned to look at Ford. "Roger that," he answered before he nodded slightly at Ford. "Dial it up."

Cam turned her chair slightly to look at the Wraith and frowned when she a grin on his face. "Hey," she said. "This isn't meant to be fun."

The Wraith turned to look at her and continued to grin before he turned away. Cam shook her head as she looked back to the front, seeing the Gate through the front windscreen. She looked at Ford who was glaring over at the Wraith. She nodded slightly before looking pointedly at the Gate. Ford nodded as he turned to the front and looked at the Gat before Sheppard took them through.

"Your brother will be at the rendezvous site," Sheppard told her.

Cam nodded. "Thanks, Major," she told him. "He'll be helping in escorting Steve there." She nodded over her shoulder at the Wraith.

* * *

Cam yawned a few hours later when she leaned against her Staff weapon in the Hoffan cell block. The Wraith stood in a cell that was of similar size to that of the one that was in Atlantis. She looked up as she saw Teyla entering the room and walking over to Sheppard who stood on the other side of the cell by the door.

"They are ready," she said.

Cam watched as Sheppard moved closer to the unshielded cell. She didn't hear what Ford muttered to him as Carson, Perna and someone else walked in. He eyes moved to the Wraith who looked up. He cocked his head slightly, realising that the man was unwell.

He sniffed dismissively. "This is the sustenance you promised?" he asked.

Cam shrugged at him as Sheppard merely stepped closer to the cell. "Little change in plans," he answered. "You tell me something right now, or the dinner party's cancelled."

The Wraith smirked, revealing his sharp, pointed and seemingly unnecessary teeth. "What do you want to know?" he asked.

"How many Hive ships have become operational since we awakened the first one?" Sheppard asked.

The Wraith's smirk widened. "All of them Major," he replied. "First they will travel to their own feeding grounds and gather strength." He smiled, his smirk disappearing. "We are a patient race, Major. When we have taken our fill and gathered our strength, we will join force and come for you!"

"D'you have any idea when that'll be?" Sheppard asked him. "Morning? Afternoon?"

Cam smirked slightly as she heard the sound of exasperation from Steve. Sheppard turned to the Marines in the room as he picked up his P-90 from the front of his vest.

"Open it up," he ordered.

After a moment one of the Marines stepped forward and opened the locked door. The man who stood with Perna and Carson, wore a nightgown-like piece of clothing. He had a blanket over his shoulders as he stepped forwards. Cam watched as Carson took hold of his wrist and spoke with him for a moment. The man shook his head before he removed the blanket which Perna carefully took from him.

He took a deep breath before he stepped into the cell. As the Marine who had opened the door began to shut it, the man started unbuttoning it, exposing his chest for the Wraith. Steve stood and moved closer, seeming to inspect him.

"He is weak!" the Wraith said.

Cam felt her gut clench in worry, hoping that the Wraith wouldn't reject the man. After a moment though the Wraith opened his hand and slammed it to the man's bared chest. She felt horror roll through her before she let Kel'an take control, her eyes flashing as the change took place.

**_Easy, _**Kel'an soothed her before they both watched in surprise as the Wraith tore his hand away from the man, snarling angrily as he cradled his feeding hand to his chest like it hurt. The man looked at the wounds on his chest for a moment before he looked at the Wraith.

_**"Good grief!" **she muttered. **"It worked!"**_

* * *

Kel'an hurried into the cell block, on the heels of Teyla and Sheppard having heard the call from Ford a few minutes before. She skidded to halt, using the butt end of her Staff weapon to halt herself. She felt her eyebrows shoot to her hairline in shock as they looked at the Wraith that was crouched in the corner of the cell, gasping in pain.

**"How long has he been like this?" **she asked.

"Since the test," Ford told her.

Sheppard looked at Teyla curiously. "Think it's a ruse?" he asked her.

Teyla shook her head. "It is not their way," she replied.

Kel'an raised an eyebrow as she looked at the Wraith as he painfully hauled himself to his feet, using the bars around him to gain leverage.

"Hey!" Sheppard said, gaining Steve's attention.

"What have you done to me?!" the Wraith snarled at him before he clutched at his stomach in pain.

After a moment he roared and charged to the other side of the cell, close to where Sheppard now stood. Sheppard stepped back, leaning to do so as the Wraith's arm shot through the bars before he could do much more. This seemed to be too much for the Wraith as he collapsed backwards to the floor, lying half-propped up on one elbow as he gasped in clear pain.

Sheppard stood up straight once more as he nodded to a couple of the Marines. "We need Beckett in here!" he ordered them.

The Marines nodded as they hurried out of the room, following his orders. Kel'an watched as Sheppard crouched down by the door and looked at the pained Wraith.

"We're gonna help you," he said.

Steve looked at him, a snarl on his face. "Don't feel pity for me," he said. "You will suffer far worse when the others come for you!"

With another gasp he collapsed backwards, his arm not having the strength to hold him up anymore. His chest stopped moving as did his eyes.

_**"This does not look good," **she commented._

* * *

Cam sighed as she sat in the Jumper, her data-pad on her lap. As she heard someone climbing up the ramp, she didn't look up, but merely raised her berretta in the direction of the noise.

"Hold it," she said as she continued to translate the Ancient language. "Don't move."

**"Easy Camilla," **Lantash's voice spoke to her. **"It is just me."**

Cam sighed as she lowered her weapon and moved it to the holster strapped to her leg. She looked up as she saved her translations.

"Sorry Lan'," she apologised. "I've had too many Hoffans running up to me today."

He nodded as he stepped closer and sat by her side. **"It is understandable," **he agreed.

_"Major Sheppard?" _Teyla's voice echoed from Lantash's radio strapped to his hip. _"Camilla Carter?"_

Cam shared a frown with her brother's symbiote before she tapped her radio-microphone in her left ear. "Yes Teyla?" she asked.

_"We're in the medical centre," _she said. _"We need help!"_

Cam nodded as she got to her feet, easily slipping the data-pad away. "We'll be there as soon as we can!" Cam said as she nodded at Lantash.

* * *

John reluctantly followed Druhin as he rushed into the medical centre on Hoff, hearing Carson and Perna behind him. They stepped around a patient that was being wheeled into the centre on a gurney. He looked around in horror as he saw the mere number of patients around in the obviously small room.

"My God!" Carson exclaimed from behind him and John couldn't help but agree as he spotted both Carter and Martouf working.

_I really have to find out his last name, _he thought to himself Teyla moved over to them, her base jacket gone.

"Major Sheppard," she greeted him. "The doctors say they began arriving last night, and their numbers have been increasing by the hour."

Carter walked over then, slipping her healing device-thing into a pocket before she removed a pair of rubber gloves she had been wearing. "Major," she greeted him as he felt Carson gently tap his shoulder.

"Major," he said and John understood what he wanted.

"I'm on it – go!" He watched as Carson moved around him and peeled off his jacket as Martouf moved over and began to talk to him. He looked to Ford. "Lieutenant, radio Weir," he ordered. "Tell 'em we need a full medical support team on a Jumper and inbound ASAP."

Ford nodded. "Roger that," he agreed before he moved off to follow his order.

Sheppard cast a glance around the ward and took in the sight of the patients taking up any available space, their painful coughs echoing in the room as Perna moved to examine one patient. He sensed Druhin turn around and leave the ward, just seeing his face paced walk as he did so. John turned his attention to a patiently waiting Carter in front of him.

"What's going on here?" he asked her.

Carter shrugged. "These are half of the people that the drug was given to," she told him. "My brother and I have only been here a few more minutes than you and we have been hard pressed to heal people."

John nodded before he looked at her, worry spreading through him for a moment. "You sure this isn't contagious?"

Carter nodded and chuckled sombrely. "The only way for you to get sick Sheppard, is for you to have been with the others as they were 'inoculated'," she told him.

"The fatalities?"

She shrugged again. "Depends on whether either Martouf or myself can get to a patient in time," she answered. "Currently: it's well over eighty percent. Everyone that has come in here will either die where they are placed or will live to see their families." She sighed and rubbed her face. "We've only managed to heal a few here. I doubt we can do much more beyond that. You will need to speak with the Chancellor about this Sheppard."

John knew he was going to speak with him but looked at her curiously as he did so. "Why should I do that?" he asked her.

Carter shrugged then. "I have seen death before Major," she told him quietly as she looked away from him. "I have memories of countless deaths at the hands of my predecessors, and I have committed several with mine own." She looked at him and he could see the tears in her eyes. "This is not the type of death I have ever seen before Major. This is genocide." She paused and took a bracing breath. "However unintentional, it is still genocide."

John nodded and after a moment stepped closer and laid a free hand on her shoulder. "I'll do what I can," he promised.

Carter smiled tearfully at him. "Thank you, Sheppard," she told him truthfully. "It's all I can ask of you."

John gave her his trademark smile before he removed his hand and left, trying to ignore the sound of one of the patients dying near Carson and Perna.

* * *

John took an insane amount of pleasure barging through Druhin's office doors. He barely noticed the security guard that Druhin had stopped rushing to stop him, instead, he watched as the man turned the guard and nodded.

"Leave us," he ordered him.

The guard nodded and moved passed John, barely touching him as he closed the doors behind him hurriedly. "D'you have _any _idea what's going on out there?" John asked him as he gestured to the window that overlooked the medical centre.

Druhin nodded at him. "I do, Major," he replied.

John raised an eyebrow in response. "Half the people you gave that drug to are dying," he snarled at him.

"Half of them, Major," he told him. "Half." He smiled slightly. "The statistics are clear and the numbers are holding at that level." John felt his fuse slowly burning away in anger. "It's just been confirmed, which means the other fifty percent of those we inoculated will live, and destroy any Wraith who try to feed on them."

"I don't believe this!" he commented.

"Now the Wraith will know the full conviction of the Hoffan people!"

John looked at the man's eyes and thought he saw a delusional glee in them. "Conviction?!" he asked him.

Druhin stepped a little closer and leaned towards him as if he were a friend he was speaking to. "Do you realise that if we could spread this to every human in the galaxy," he began eagerly, "future generations would never know the horror of a culling."

John gestured once more to the medical centre through the window and he fought a shudder as he heard the doctors and nurses calling to each other. "You're deliberately sacrificing _millions_ of lives!" he told him angrily.

"An end to the Wraith!" Druhin corrected him, anger surging into his words. "You can't comprehend the bargain in that?"

John shook his head. "You can't make a bargain like that for your entire people!"

Druhin raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you think I'm alone in this conviction?"

"I think you're delusional!"

Druhin smiled at him. "You shall see," he told him. "We are putting it to a vote as we speak. I will stand by the decision of the majority." John had to acknowledge that it was a good idea. "Does that satisfy you?"

"Do they have any idea what they're voting on?" John asked him carefully.

Druhin nodded. "Yes," he replied calmly. "I promise you."

"And you'll back off if it doesn't go your way?"

Druhin nodded again. "You have my word."

John looked at him for a moment longer before he turned around and left, opening the doors before he slammed it shut behind him, snarling at the guards who watched him. As he made his way back to the medical centre he knew he had to tell Carter and let her know what he knew. He hoped that she wouldn't hate him for being the messenger.

* * *

Cam sighed as she sat down on free stool as Sheppard stood in front of her, exhaustion clear in the way he stood. She gestured to the stool behind him and smiled slightly when he sank down.

"He wants to inoculate everyone?" she asked him as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

Sheppard nodded. "They're doing a vote," he explained before he looked around. "Where's Carson?"

Cam sighed and gestured over to a curtained off area to her right when she could just hear Carson speaking with Perna as she lay in her own bed, the drug working on her. "He's with Perna," she told him. "She was one of the first to be given the drug. It also looks like she's one of the people who will die soon."

Sheppard nodded slightly as sympathetic sadness went across his face. "Can you heal her?"

Cam shook her head. "There are very few people alive who are immune to the effects of Goa'uld healing devices," she answered sadly. "Both my brother and I have worked in tandem over her and nothing will work." She sighed as she bowed her head and let Kel'an take control as exhaustion rolled through her.

**"There is nothing in the knowledge that Lantash and myself have that can help her, Major," **Kel'an told him as Lantash walked out from the curtained off area, sadness on his face, before he shook his head. She bowed her own head as she muttered a quick phrase in Goa'uld. **"She is dead. The Hoffans have lost a great mind."**

Sheppard nodded.

* * *

Kel'an followed behind Carson, Sheppard and Teyla. Lantash walked next to her, holding his Staff weapon as they walked. McKay and Ford stood on either side of the corridor. Kel'an smiled sadly as she saw McKay waving slightly at Carson, only to be ignored.

"You okay?" Ford asked as they joined them.

Carson nodded tiredly. "Aye," he lied.

Kel'an frowned as Druhin walked towards them from another corridor that joined theirs. "I am told you are leaving," he said.

Sheppard nodded. "Yes, we are," he replied.

"Not that it hasn't been," McKay began, "… lovely." Kel'an forced a smirk away, hearing the sarcasm in his voice.

"I want you to see the results of the vote before you left," Druhin said as he handed to Sheppard while Carson walked over.

Kel'an joined them and watched as Sheppard handed it Carson after reading it. Carson sighed as he read it before he passed it to her.

"Ninety-six percent in favour," Carson told the others as Kel'an read it, a sense of dread rolling through her.

"Does the vote include all your people?" Teyla asked.

"Every one," Druhin answered before he looked at Sheppard. "So you see Major, we speak with one voice, and we are resolute."

Sheppard shook his head. "Yeah," he said calmly. "I can see that."

Kel'an frowned as she stepped around Carson and looked at Druhin. **"What will happen to the four percent that did not agree?" **she asked. **"Will you put them before the Wraith first? Or will you inoculate them against their own will?" **She sighed as she handed the scrap of paper to Carson. **"I do not think I will return to Hoff, Major. I will see you at the ships."**

With that she turned around and left, feeling her shared anger with Cam roll through heard the others speak with Druhin for a moment before they followed after her.

"'Victory at all costs'," Carson intoned behind her and Kel'an heard him. "That sound familiar Major?"

_Churchill, _Cam answered as Sheppard gave the same answer.

"Aye," Carson agreed. "Never thought I'd disagree."

* * *

_"Parents are not interested in justice, they're interested in peace and quiet." Bill Cosby_

_"I have feelings too. I am still human. All I want is to be loved, for myself…" Marilyn Monroe_

_"Expect poison from the standing water." William Blake _

* * *

Response to reviews/reviwers:

1st goes to a guest reviewer called **Incognito**: Thanks for the review and when I had originally come up with this idea a few years ago, I hadn't really seen the gaps that I see now that both you have pointed them out and that I have seen looking back on my work. I appreciate your view and I really enjoy the idea that you've offered here. I just might take your idea and see what I can come up with – it is a really wonderful idea that I'm realising would have made much more sense than what I've written here.

I am really glad that you're enjoying this so far and I hope that this ride continues to bring that feeling to you. I welcome anymore ideas/criticisms/comments that you come up with and I hope that this latest chapter has lived up to your expectations.

I also apologise for the continuity errors you've found; can I say that – ever so slightly – I'm playing around with the timeline? As for the salute, I'm not entirely sure, but I sort of wanted to play it off as the SGC military members knowing she was the daughter of a General, so a little bit of respect was due. I'm not entirely sure on American Military etiquette, so I could be wrong. To make up for this, though, I don't think I've got any other military member seriously saluting her – considering John Sheppard's attitude, I can easily see the man giving her a mocking salute or three just for the fun of it.

**Teddy**, another guest reviewer: I appreciate your comments, Teddy, and I appreciate your comment on my English so I do not wish to sound harsh in my response; I live in the United Kingdom where words – spelt American for the moment – like 'color' are spelt with the 'u' in the word - colour - I understand that my English will be a little jarring like that.

Unless you're talking about my parting sentence in the last update; if so, I apologise. I am currently running on less than five hours sleep a night and my spelling tends to nose-dive when I don't concentrate that much.

Either way, I apologise for the English.

**JaimyX**: I've written more and I apologise that it has taken so long for me to update and give you your hit of Martouf and Lantash. I've always been fond of Marty and I hated it when they got rid of him in season 4. As you can obviously guess, I have decided to circumvent that. I, however, will not tell you how in it's complete totality, until I reach that episode in my writings. I'm glad that you enjoy Cam and Kel'an and I hope that you enjoy what I have planned for the two of them as well as the rest of the characters throughout this story.

**RononistheConon**: I have this bad habit of watching tv shows and movies and thinking 'what would happen if an OC were in that situation' and that kind of happened one day with Atlantis. I knew that I wanted a Tok'ra and a sister to Sam there but it took me some time to get enough confidence together to begin posting this here. I'm sure, actually I **_know _**for a fact, that if you started writing, you'd quickly get better.

I'll let you in on a secret: when I first came up with this idea, my writing was absolutely horrible and I was a complete and utter novice at the workings of the world. As the years have gone by, I've steadily gotten better, slowly and surely, until I look back on my work and think 'what was I smoking?' at the complete and utter naivety I had of the world – I'm sorry to say that I have become somewhat jaded about the world. I would love to read your own version of Sam having a sister in Atlantis, it would be nice to read it.

Oh, RononistheConon, I have promised that at least one pairing will happen in this fic of mine to another reviewer, months back, but I make a promise to you: Ronon will get together with the right woman for him.

**Guest**: Oh, thank you so much, Guest. I read this after I'd posted the last chapter and I could help but laugh at your comment. Despite the happiness I felt at finally getting a chapter up for everyone, I still felt a little down. Your comment dispelled that and I look forward to hearing the rest of your comments about this fic.

And finally **Shadows-of-Realm**: I'm sorry that I confused you with how I've written things, so I'm really going to try hard to work on that. I don't want to confuse anyone, least of all you. I hope that I've begun to work on this for you.

Now, please, let me know how things are going with everything. To repeat what I said at the top of the page: my family and I are moving in the next couple of weeks, entailing a lot of packing and moving house on the day. So, in all, my plan to have a chapter out once a week has been completely and utterly shot to pieces. I do promise, though, to not abandon this fic if I can help it. As soon as my family and I have settled down, I swear I will get at least one chapter out at the earliest possible moment. I promise!

Please, read, enjoy and review!


	7. Chap 6: Going Underground or Going Home?

Okay, I'm completely surprised by the sheer number of reviews I got in the first 24 hours after I posted the last chapter! It went from 24/25 to 31! Wow! 0.0 So, as a treat, here is the next chapter! Please, tell me what you think. All you readers who just read then leave, please drop a review; I love hearing everyone's opinion and 'Guest' reviews are welcome here – except those who do nothing but criticise without offering any way to improve or some moral support to the time and effort I've placed into this.

Okay, for the guests, in case you haven't read it in one of the previous chapters: if you don't have an account or have the time to sign in to review, I would appreciate it if you signed yourself as something other than 'Guest' so I know I'm not mistaking two separate Guests for the same person. Admittedly this is a preference, but it will make things easier in answering reviews publicly, rather than hoping the right 'Guest' understands my response.

Now, the final part, to my subscribers – all those who fave, and get alerts and such – who don't review: it's absolutely wonderful that you've done what you have, but it would really be nice if you all dropped a review. It doesn't have to be long or in depth, it can be a 'I liked this or that part' or 'why is this happening?' or even 'is this going to happen?'. Reviews are the one thing that makes me feel better about what I write, they all make me feel like I can get better under the words of others.

I promise to try and get the chapters out to you in a timely fashion, but since moving days is now, just over a week away and while I desperately want to get chapters out every week, I can't be guaranteed that I'll have internet access in the new house in the first week.

* * *

Standard Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis belongs to MGM and Brad Wright and the other creators. I own nothing of the original idea behind Stargate. Only Camilla, Kel'an and the various other OC's and maybe the plot twists are mine.

AN: I would like to let my readers know now that while I will be sticking pretty – if not extremely – close to the plot lines of both the SG-1 series and Atlantis, there will be episodes that I will either ignore or gloss over. It's not because I don't want to write the episodes in, it is because of my own viewpoints on the issues raised. For example, the Atlantis episode Childhood's End in Season 1 will not be done; while I may agree with how the issue of suicide was treated in this episode, if I were to write my own viewpoint – or even attempt to moderate my own viewpoint – Camilla would come across as either extremely bigoted or extremely weak, something I do not feel would add anything to the storyline.

However, if you, the readers, wish for that to change, then, please let me know in the reviews you leave me.

* * *

I wish to remind people that there is an ongoing poll on who everyone thinks Camilla should get together with. If you go and click my penname at the top of this page, the poll is right at the top of my bio, so have a vote and I'll take a look. While I have promised at least one pairing to a reader, I will take all comments/poll votes seriously and consider how to work in a relationship – a friendship at the least – into the story.

Also, I apologise for the lack of a history part to this chapter, I've been feeling under the weather for the last week or so and I haven't had the energy or the time to get an SG-1 history done for this. I'm also letting you, the readers, know that I won't be doing another SG-1 history piece in this story, it's taking too much time to get 2 stories done and ready for publishing on the same day. I _do _plan on writing a side piece to this – or maybe a prequel – that covers the history of Camilla and Kel'an getting to Atlantis.

Let me know what you think of this change, it would be nice to get some views on the change in format.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Going Underground or Going Home?**

Having worked with various explorations teams going both off-world and through the City, Cam had been surprised by the sheer number of staff meetings that she had been 'drafted' in to attending. She'd been attending the meetings that she had deemed necessary for her report to give to the Tok'ra High Council if and when the expedition managed to get back to Earth. Now, as Cam sat beside her brother, she absently tapped her nails on the metallic surface of the table in the Briefing Room.

"They call themselves the Genii," Teyla said. "They are simple people, but good farmers and fair traders."

Elizabeth nodded. "Well, we're still months away from producing successful crops on the mainland," she said, her gaze tracking to Rodney, the woman shaking her head slightly at the sight of a half-eaten sandwich in one hand and a cup of coffee in his other. "And we're heading towards a food shortage."

That brought Cam back from her mental translations of Ancient, her mind now entirely on the meeting instead of letting Kel'an take notes for her to go over later.

"I know it's getting pretty desperate," McKay said through a mouthful of his sandwich. "We're almost out of coffee." He held up his cup in testament to the fact.

"Well, maybe you should stop drinking eleven cups a day?" Sheppard suggested calmly.

"I'm just making sure I get my fair share before it's all gone," McKay replied as he pulled his cup a little closer to him, acting a bit defensive.

"That sounds fair," Ford muttered with a roll of his eyes and Cam bit back a chuckle as she sat opposite him.

She sighed after that as she turned serious and looked at Elizabeth as she sat at the head of the curved table. "I've spoken with most of the Marines already about the shortage," she began. "They seem more than willing to go onto short rations. From my experience that will only give us fifty percent more. I wish for more time if the scientists are more than willing to do the same." She looked pointedly at the sandwich that McKay held. "I know I'll be able to go onto short rations myself."

Martouf nodded as he sat next to her. "As am I," he said. "Tok'ra are able to go days without eating if need be. We can give you that much more time."

"I do not wish to do anything to the Marines however," Cam continued on from her brother. "If the Wraith are to attack, the men need to be at their best, not starved and mutinous."

"Agreed," Elizabeth said before she looked to their native ambassador for off-world missions. "Teyla?"

Teyla seemed to think for a moment before she nodded. "The Genii Stargate is a short distance from their village. I suggest we walk. They are a simple race."

Elizabeth nodded patiently and looked to Sheppard. "Sounds like a mission," she said before she stood and left.

Cam chuckled and shook her head, looking at McKay, the man oblivious to almost everything else as he sat and continued to eat his sandwich.

A-A-A-A-A-A

**SEVERAL HOURS LATER**

Cam sighed as she searched through a darkened lab with Radek Zelenka, who was in charge of the scientists without McKay around, a torch held firmly in one hand. Zelenka seemed a bit more accepting for military command when Bates had escorted them to the lab. What surprised Cam was the fact that he also seemed to respect her own lower authority when she told him about various pieces of technology she had translated, causing him to shout something in Czech to several of the other scientists that spread the message around. She frowned as she crouched down in front of one console and shone her lamp onto the writing. Zelenka stopped behind her and shone his lamp on it as well.

"You found something?" he asked her in his heavily accented voice.

Cam shrugged at him. "Not sure," she answered. "This console," she patted the metal in front of the clear crystals the Ancients had been fond of, "is safe from what I can read." She looked at him as he crouched down next to her. "There's nothing that says 'danger' or 'warning, death is possible'." Cam sighed, shaking her head. "I'll have to spend a lot of time with this one to translate it properly to find out what the writing says."

Zelenka gave her a slight smirk before he looked at one of the other scientists and called him over. "Many thanks," he said as they both stood up.

Cam nodded in acknowledgement before she moved to an active machine where Ancient writing was on the almost-floating screen in front of it. Zelenka nodded at the writing.

"Do you mind?" he asked her. "Ancient is a bit difficult to understand."

Cam nodded again as she pulled her datapad out and started writing, taking in the words flashing on the screen.

_"Tok'ra Carter, this is Control," _Peter Grodin's voice echoed in her ear ten minutes later.

She jumped violently as she was startled. "Yes?" she asked as she stopped translating the Ancient for Zelenka.

"_Major Sheppard and Doctor McKay just returned and they are requesting your presence in Doctor Weir's office."_

Cam glanced at Zelenka who nodded at her. "I'll be there in five minutes," she told him before she nodded to Bates. "You heard that?"

He nodded at her. "Yes ma'am," he replied.

Cam smirked. "You'll be in command," she told him. "You still have a few more hours so if you wish to explore further that's up to you but I would suggest listening to the good Doctor Zelenka on that one." Cam nodded at Zelenka as she spoke to the Marine and saw the Czech nod back at her.

Bates nodded at her again. "We'll stay on the radio," he answered.

Cam smiled as she turned and left the lab. She knew that the nearest transporter, just like the last time she had been in a situation similar to this, was a good distance away. She turned to look for the transporter before she ran towards it, feeling Kel'an push more energy into her legs and lungs as she strived to reach the expedition leader's office before time was up.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam sighed as she stepped out of the nearest transporter and moved over to Elizabeth's office. She smiled slightly as she walked in. She tiredly leaned against her Staff weapon as she looked between Sheppard and Elizabeth.

The latter of the two seemed to understand her sudden tiredness and gestured to one of the chairs in the office, something that Cam took, moving to sit down, even as she nodded at both Sheppard and Ford. She leaned her staff against the wall, keeping her hands clear as she looked between everyone.

"They've managed to make a preliminary deal for food in exchange for medicines and explosives," Elizabeth told her calmly.

Cam groaned at that. "Explosives?" she asked as she looked at Sheppard, raising an eyebrow questioningly at him. "You do realise, Major that while a portion of this expedition is military, this was set up to be a scientific expedition?"

"They want C4," Sheppard expanded calmly. "And I do know that, ma'am. The reason they're asking is to clear stumps. Have you ever tried to do one by hand?"

The Tok'ra arched an eyebrow at that. "Not personally," she answered, "but a host, seven hundred years ago, of Kel'an's was a farmer and he dealt well enough with those tree stumps until he became a host." She shrugged one shoulder at the man. "It builds character."

The man shook his head at that. "I've already explained to Dr. Weir, that the Genii are risking a lot giving us so much of their harvest this year," he told her. "They could easily have problems."

Cam sighed and rubbed her face. "Telling me all this is just a formality," she said, looking at Elizabeth. "If and when we ever get back to Earth, I'll have to notify the Tok'ra High Council of everything." She sighed again. "If you've already made a decision, the please, don't hold back because of me." Cam paused and looked at Sheppard. "I only ask that you give them the C4 if you are absolutely sure of their intentions, Major."

A-A-A-A-A-A

**TWO HOURS LATER**

With yet another trip into the City disturbed, Cam knew she wasn't in good humour, even as she grudgingly climbed the stairs to the conference room, muttering under her breath in both Goa'uld and Ancient. With only half a translation completed for Dr. Zelenka and another five waiting, she was getting increasingly pressed for time as the only member of the expedition able to quickly and easily translate Ancient.

She turned and walked up the short flight of stairs on the landing of the main staircase in the Gateroom, walking towards the Briefing Room where the doors were closed. With a sigh, Cam muttered under her breath as she tiredly swung one arm over the sensors, relaxing slightly when the doors rotated open for her, letting her step inside before the doors shut again.

Elizabeth was sat tiredly in one seat while both Major Sheppard and Lieutenant Ford were sat opposite the leader of the City. "Does anyone want to tell me why I was called away from exploring the City?" the Tok'ra asked. "I've got roughly ten translations to get through before tomorrow."

"The Genii want to use a Jumper to take a batch of their explosives to a Hive close to their planet," Sheppard told her as she sat down. "If it wasn't for the fact that they have the others, I would have said no."

Cam sighed and rubbed her face, feeling exhaustion rolling through her tiredly before she felt it being numbed and soothed away by Kel'an. "So we need to come up with a way to get around them?" she said.

Elizabeth nodded. "We think we have a plan, but we wanted to see if you could help shed some light," she said. "How many times have the Tok'ra had similar situations occur to their… operatives?"

Cam leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. _Kel'? _she asked quietly.

**_It's happened once or twice before, that I know of, _**she responded. **_I think, with the technology available to us now, we could easily pull off one of the plans._**

A-A-A-A-A-A

**GENII HOMEWORLD**

Cam leaned back in the pilot's seat, alternating her attention from the HUD to the datapad in her lap, Ancient written on the screen, even as English words surrounded the Ancient. Sergeant Markham, piloting Jumper 3, had gone through the Gate first in the convoy of cloaked Jumpers, Major Sheppard piloting Jumper 1 behind him and Cam Jumper 2 behind the Major. As soon as the three of them had come through, they'd all split off in separate directions, the Major heading towards the Genii's surface settlement while Cam and Markham had quickly gained altitude, setting up the Ancient scanners built in to the Jumpers to keep an eye on the area surrounding the Stargate, even after Jumper 1 took on passengers and left for an unknown world.

A short radio burst had come Jumper 1 before it had left the Genii homeworld, sounds of the entirely of the team onboard as well as several Genii letting Jumper's 2 and 3 know that the Major's team had been 'rescued'. That had occurred close to an hour before, with Cam finally managing to complete at least three translations and start on another.

"_Ma'am, this is Jumper 3,"_ Sergeant Markham spoke up using the Jumper's communication systems in case the Genii could detect their own signal, albeit scrambled as it was. "_I have a small company of the soldiers coming from the co-ordinates that Major Sheppard supplied."_

"Understood 3," Cam answered as she thought for a moment before she nodded. "Follow them."

**_Well, they are more certainly not going to play nice, _**Kel'an muttered in Cam's mind.

Cam rolled her eyes at that. _I was expecting them to not, Kel', _she answered. _We planned for this._

She touched the controls in front of her, her hands ghosting over the various controls until she had brought up the HUD again, watching as a group from the settlement moved quickly towards the Stargate; the soldiers on the ground were seemingly becoming a hidden welcoming party and probably of a similar type to the Tok'ra that kept guard over the Gate and rings on desert planets back in the Milky Way that Cam remembered.

"Ma'am, the Stargate," Corporal Howitts spoke up from the seat next to her, the man holding an Ancient Gene and acting as her co-pilot.

"I see it, Corporal," Cam told him as the Stargate came to life in front and below them.

"_Ma'am, the soldiers have taken up position approximately a hundred yards from the Gate," _Markham reported.

"Roger that." Cam sighed as she leaned back in her seat and rubbed at her face tiredly. "Looks like we were right. As soon as Jumper 1 lands move to hover five metres above it and when we get the signal uncloak and open bay doors."

"_Understood, ma'am,"_ Markham answered.

Cam sighed as she closed her eyes and let Kel'an take control, feeling her friend gently nudging for control. It took a few seconds for control to completely change and Kel'an slowly opened her eyes and raised her head, even as she switched the datapad in her lap off and slipped it between her feet, anchoring it firmly there.

**"Everyone on standby," **the Tok'ra ordered. **"Despite planning, there is a chance that this may go wrong, I wish for everyone to be ready to attack and defend Jumper 1 at a moment's notice."**

With both Jumpers holding separate crews of Marines, they were well armed with guns and the Ancient Drones in the Jumpers themselves, ready for any fight that the Genii might put up. But, considering that the Genii had lied to them before on their technologic advancement, both Cam and Kel'an weren't willing to be lax in what the Genii might be able to attack them with.

Kel'an grasped the controls of the Jumper, feeling the Ancient technology linking with her host and her. As the Marines in both Jumpers acknowledged the Tok'ra's orders, Jumper 1 shot through the now active Stargate, waiting until the Gate had shut down before landing twenty yards in front of it and several yards away from the Genii hidden in the trees. After a few moments the rear hatch came down and Sheppard stepped out, followed by McKay, Martouf, Ford and Teyla as well as a man in a Genii uniform. A small group of Genii walked out of the trees as if they were expected and came to a stop in front of the group. The Genii that had accompanied the Jumper switched sides and the two groups exchanged a few words before the man shouted something and the whole company of Genii lurched out of the trees and aimed weapons at Sheppard and his team.

Sheppard scratched the side of his head and his mic came to life letting Kel'an and the Marines hear what was going on. He'd obviously turned up the gain.

"_Your weapons."_ The Genii man motioned at them.

Sheppard snorted. "_I don't think so," _he said.

"_We have the advantage, Major,"_ the man retorted.

"_Yeah." _Sheppard sounded amused but the man missed that.

"_This is what your father died for,"_ Teyla told a small blond woman. "_In the name of those who would lie and steal from those they would call friends."_

"_Well I lied too,"_ Sheppard pointed out before glancing up and incidentally directly at where Kel'an and her Jumper floated. "_Jumpers 2 and 3, execute."_

Kel'an grinned in amusement as she uncloaked the ship, dropped about two metres and then opened the drone bays on the sides of her Jumper.

"_You didn't really think we only had one Jumper did you?"_ Sheppard was close to teasing him now as all the Genii aimed up at the Jumpers. Kel'an felt Cam's urge to fire on the Genii and resisted her host's urge to fire on them. "_Tell your people to get back and nobody will get hurt."_

When the Genii didn't respond, Sheppard clicked his mic and Kel'an smirked as she activated one drone, letting it glow but not allowing it escape from its container. It whined and glowed on the side of the ship but Kel'an held it fast.

The Genii on the ground took a step back as they kept their weapons raised. "_Wait!"_ the Genii gasped. "_You promise to leave?"_

"_That was the plan,"_ Sheppard told him. "_Guess we'll have to go somewhere else for our food but it's only right we get something out of this." _He reached over to the man and plucking a small device from his hands.

"_You don't want to make enemies of the Genii!"_ the man warned.

_"You know what?" _Sheppard asked as Kel'an chuckled, bringing the Jumper down further before she tilted it horizontally at the Genii. "_Same here." _Sheppard laughed.

Kel'an deactivated the drone before she moved in between the two groups and covered Sheppard and the others as they climbed into the Jumper. She waited until the others had gone through the Gate before she followed after them, making sure that the Genii stayed where they were.

A-A-A-A-A-A

**A FEW DAYS LATER**

Cam sighed as she sat in the conference room once more, wearing her tactical vest after having been called away from yet another exploration team.

"I thought the Atlantis Gate was the only Gate capable of dialling Earth," Elizabeth said.

McKay nodded. "It is," he agreed. "But that's because it's the only one with an additional control crystal that allows the eighth chevron to lock."

Cam nodded in understanding as a piece of Ancient knowledge rose to the surface before descending back into the depths of her mind. "It was a security measure," she said. "The Ancients couldn't risk the possibility of the Wraith being able to dial Earth at the time from any other Stargate. The crystal in question is written in such a way as to make it impossible to replicate with our technology."

Everyone looked at her curious before McKay shrugged. "It doesn't matter," he said. "As long as we have the control crystal, I can make the other Gate work."

Martouf leaned forwards in his seat and rested his arms on the table in front of him. "Forgive my asking Dr.," he began, "you are suggesting that we take the crystal from our dialling device and take it to M5S-224?"

McKay nodded. "Yes."

"Isn't that risky?" Elizabeth asked.

"I'll be fine."

"I think she means in terms of breaking our own Gate," Sheppard told him.

McKay looked at him with an affronted expression. "I know what I'm doing," he insisted. "Besides, the control crystal's useless without enough power."

"You said you didn't know where the energy on the other planet is coming from," Ford said as he sat next to Cam.

"I believe it is being generated, somehow, in the atmosphere itself."

"The fog," Teyla clarified.

Cam watched as he rolled his eyes slightly. "Yes."

"You said it wasn't a fog," Sheppard sarcastically complained.

"Whatever it is," McKay corrected.

"Well," Ford asked him, "how do you know?"

"I don't yet," McKay told him. "But the fog – or the mist, or whatever you want to call it – is the only thing around for miles and the energy readings were constant."

Elizabeth nodded. "Okay, even if you can pull this off, we have to assume that the Erath Gate lacks a power source capable of establishing a wormhole back to Pegasus, so whoever went – they'd be taking a risk that it might be a one-way trip."

McKay smiled at her. "I'm sure that someone will volunteer," he commented.

Sheppard looked at him. "You?" he asked.

McKay looked at him, affronted. "Believe it or not, I would only go if I knew there was a good chance I could come back," he told him and the others. "At least we can send a message to Stargate Command letting them know we're okay."

Sheppard nodded at that as he looked at Elizabeth. "Well, we've gathered a lot of intel," he agreed. "We should send it, if we can, even if it's over a radio."

Elizabeth nodded in agreement.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam cocked her head slightly as she watched McKay digging at something in Atlantis' DHD before he came up, a slight smile playing at the corners of his lips as he looked at the others triumphantly.

"There," he said, happily. "There it is." He held a flat crystal in his hand and Cam could make out the Ancient writing that described what it did.

"So," Sheppard began as he looked at the crystal that McKay held, "how easy will it be to put that thing in the other DHD?"

McKay's smiled faltered slightly. "The Atlantis DHD is unique," he said. "It's not like there'll be an empty clot waiting for us to plug it in."

Elizabeth frowned at him. "Meaning?"

McKay's smile faltered even more. "Meaning that there will be some disassembly required," he admitted.

"You wanna take the DHD apart?!" Ford exclaimed, horrified.

Cam smiled and laid a soothing hand on the young man's shoulder. "McKay will put it back together," she said. "Failing that, I will do it myself."

"Do you not run the risk of disabling the other Stargate?" Teyla asked.

"Only if I screw up," McKay told her calmly. "Which is extremely unlikely."

"Eight hundred and four years," Sheppard suddenly said.

Cam frowned as she looked at the man. "What?" she asked him.

"That's how long it will take us to get McKay by Puddle Jumper."

"But you would do that right?" McKay asked him sarcastically.

"Of course we would," Sheppard replied and Cam could hear the insincerity in his voice as Ford grinned.

"Well," McKay said. "It won't be necessary. However, I may require assistance."

Elizabeth looked at Sheppard. "Major?" she asked.

Sheppard turned to look at Ford. "Lieutenant?" he asked.

Ford looked concerned for a moment before he nodded. "Yes sir," he replied reluctantly as he smiled nervously at McKay.

A-A-A-A-A-A

**TWO HOURS LATER**

Cam sighed as she sat at the bottom of the stairs, looking towards the Gate as she leaned against a P-90, her Staff weapon lying in her quarters, as it hung, clipped to her tactical vest that she wore over her Tok'ra uniform. She heard footsteps behind her and turned around slightly to see Teyla, wearing her off-world uniform, moving down them to sit next to her. Cam bowed her head and let Teyla greet her in the Athosian fashion before she pressed her right fist to her left shoulder and bowed forward slightly at her.

"Tek'ma'te Teyla," she greeted her in the Jaffa fashion, one that both Kel'an and herself had found to be the most polite. "What brings you here?"

Teyla smiled slightly at her. "I have spoken with Major Sheppard about joining you and the others for speaking at the briefing," she said. "I wondered about your own opinion of this, and the possibility that you might return to familiar ground."

Cam chuckled as she shook her head. "If I was given the choice, Teyla," she began, "I would only take it if there was complete certainty that I would be able to return to the city." She nodded at the Athosian. "It would be your choice, Teyla, to join us on Earth, but I would enjoy showing you around Earth and the crystal caverns of the Tok'ra. There are some truly wondrous places that you would enjoy seeing." The Tok'ra sighed as memories surfaced then, tears sparkling slightly in her eyes as the remembered years on Earth.

Then, memories from just before leaving Earth surfaced and Cam cursed quietly as she rubbed at her eyes, getting rid of the tears. She felt a quick embrace around her and Cam barked out a quiet laugh as she realised it was Kel'an.

**_I thought I'd buried those memories, kid, _**her symbiote said quietly. **_It would be nice to get back to Earth for a short time._**

She felt Teyla beside her press a hand to her shoulder, her grip loose as if in apology. "I have raised some uncomfortable memories," she said. "I am sorry."

Cam shook her head, both at the Athosian and at her friend. "Not all of them are bad ones, Teyla," she said. "There are good ones, ones with a dim hope to see the creators of them and ones with an even dimmer hope of rebuilding bridges burnt." She looked at Teyla, leaning her forearms on her legs, seeing the Athosian's confused expression. "It would be like you and your people returning to an unmarred Athos and seeing all the places that once made you happy as a child, memories that are both good and bad for you."

looked at her. "It would be like you returning to Athos and seeing all the places that made you happy as a child."

Teyla nodded in understanding as the others joined them. "Shall we make to leave?" she asked.

Cam laughed quietly as she stood up and extended a hand to the Athosian. "Let's," she replied.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam leaned against the DHD as Martouf stood next to her, wearing his own Tok'ra uniform as McKay stood behind it, ready to start activating the Gate. Elizabeth, Teyla and Sheppard stood in front of them. Cam had looked around when they had first arrived and had found the 'mist' to be intriguing, especially after she had tried climbing one of the pillars around the Gate, only to stop when she had gone only a few meters up, feeling surprising exhausted.

"So," McKay began, "are we, uh, ready?"

"What's there to be ready for?" Sheppard asked him.

"Well, it's a big moment and I thought: we haven't been in contact for some time…"

Sheppard looked over his shoulder at him and smiled. "We're ready," he told him.

"Go ahead," Elizabeth confirmed.

Cam kept her eyes on the Gate and watched as the chevrons moved around, encoding before it reached the eighth symbol and Cam felt a sudden worry tear through her. "Please work," she muttered, hearing McKay mutter something similar before the two Gates connected and the event horizon arched for a moment before settling.

Cam smiled and quickly embraced her brother as happiness surged through her. "It has worked," Martouf whispered to her before they parted.

Elizabeth stood still and tapped her radio headset. "Stargate Command, this is Dr. Elizabeth Weir of the Atlantis expedition," she said. "Do you read?" Cam tapped into her own radio, hearing the others do the same. There wasn't a response. "I repeat – this is Dr. Weir, come in please."

There was another pause before a sigh of relief echoed over the radio. _"This is Sergeant Harriman of Stargate Command,"_ the person on the other end spoke. _"Whoever you are, this better not be a joke."_

Cam chuckled. "Hey Harriman," she said as she smiled. "Would this voice ever lie to you?"

_"Is that our Ancient-prone Camilla Carter?" _Harriman sounded delighted.

Cam blushed at that. "I'm sending my personal IDC for confirmation Sergeant," Elizabeth said before she typed her code into her GDO.

There was a pause before a chuckle came through. _"Sorry about that, Dr. Weir," _Harriman said. _"We're just a little surprised to be hearing from you."_

Elizabeth nodded. "Understandable," she agreed.

_"The iris is open," _Harriman told them. _"You're clear to come through."_

Elizabeth smiled sadly and Cam shared her feelings as she absently rubbed her hands together. "Thanks," she said. "But we're not ready to risk a one-way trip."

_"You don't understand Dr. – things have changed around here," _Harriman told them. _"The Asgard are in the process of fitting the _Prometheus _with engines capable of reaching other galaxies. We were mapping a mission to find out what happened to you." _Cam looked at her brother and shared a smile with him as she heard Elizabeth relaying Ford's question before Harriman replied, _"Yes ma'am. Come through now and you could be back in Pegasus inside of a month."_

Cam smiled as she continued to lean against the DHD, though she allowed more of her weight to go into the actual device. "Well," McKay began as he cleared his throat after a few moments of astonished silence, "who's going?"

Elizabeth had a regretful expression on her face as she placed a hand over her mic and looked at the others. "A month is still a month," she said. "It could be longer depending on how long it takes to get the reinforcements."

Cam nodded. "While it is still a month away from the city," she began carefully, "I do not mind going."

Elizabeth and Sheppard looked at her, surprised while McKay merely looked at her as if she was insane. "What?" Martouf asked from beside her.

Cam shrugged. "I know Elizabeth doesn't want to leave, the people of the city look up to her too much already for her to go and do that," she said before she nodded at Sheppard. "I know that the current head of the military on the base shouldn't leave either so the Major can't leave." She smiled slightly over her shoulder at McKay. "I don't think our current head of the science department would like to be pulled away from his new toy."

McKay frowned at her for a moment before he nodded in agreement. "Don't the Tok'ra have a genetic memory or something?" he asked her.

Cam looked at him oddly for a moment and sensed her brother do the same thing beside her. "Almost," she said. "We have the uncanny ability to remember everything in startling detail." She shuddered then. "I know exactly what it feels like to lie on top of a broken arm and feel myself dying even though it's not me dying."

Martouf gently touched her shoulder for a moment before Elizabeth nodded. "I don't want you to go alone though," she said.

Cam looked at her brother as he nodded once. "We will both go," he agreed. "You all are needed more at Atlantis."

Sheppard smirked as they both shook hands with everyone, muttering goodbyes. "Have a good time on Earth," he said. "Oh, and pick up a bunch of clothes for the Athosians, they've been asking to have a look at what Earth can give them."

Cam chuckled. "Of course Major," she agreed. "I'll keep an eye out for you."

She turned when she felt Martouf rest a hand on her shoulder and followed him to the Gate. She paused and waved to the others for a moment before she turned back to the Gate and stepped through, following her brother. For one instant she felt her body travelling down the connection between the two Gates before she stepped out onto the ramp on Earth.

She felt her hand automatically reach for her berretta she had taken to carrying around with her, and looked around the suddenly primitive Gateroom in comparison to Atlantis. She took in the sight of the expected chips in the concrete walls that had increased slightly in her absence. She moved her hand away from her berretta as she turned around, taking in the appearance of the Gate as it shut down and she took the opportunity to step behind it and have a quick look.

"You nearly finished back there?" a voice asked from the bottom of the ramp.

Cam turned around and smiled when she saw Jack standing at the bottom, wearing blue BDU's with his arms crossed impatiently over his chest as he smiled up at her. She laughed slightly as she moved down the ramp and let him pull her into a welcoming embrace. She let the warm feeling of being on Earth seep through her.

"You have no idea how much I've missed your face, Jack," she told him when she had stepped back slightly to look at him. "You really don't."

Jack chuckled as he gestured for the two Tok'ra to follow after him. "I can guess," he said as they stepped through the open blast door on one side of the Gateroom. "About as much as I've missed you both."

Cam chuckled as he turned to the control room stairs and jogged up them. She followed after him at a slightly more sedate pace as she nodded at Harriman before he looked at the note that Jack had handed him. She didn't need to see Jack as he led them both to the main briefing room attached to his office as it overlooked the Gateroom. When they had both reached the briefing room, Cam turned to look at the Gate as it dialled out; Harriman following Jack's note. She didn't see the address but she heard Jack sigh as he sat down in his customary seat at the head of the table.

"Harriman tell you anything else about what we've been up to?" Jack asked them, pulling Cam's attention away from the Gate.

Cam shook her head as she moved to take a seat on Jack's left, beside Martouf. "He said nothing more than that you were planning an intelligence mission," Martouf answered. "Is there more?"

Jack shrugged as he leaned back in his seat. "Nothing worth mentioning," he commented. "Shall we get my briefing over Atlantis over?"

Cam chuckled and placed a hand over her mouth to stop most of the sound of it escaping before she bowed her head and closed her eyes, allowing Kel'an control when she felt her nudge at her mind. **"Shall we talk politics, old friend?" **she asked conversationally. **"We have just over fifty different world's politics in here."**

Jack chuckled as he sighed and gestured for Kel'an to start. "Go ahead," he said. "Let's get the worst over and done with."

A-A-A-A-A-A

**FOUR – FIVE HOURS LATER**

Cam watched as Lantash relinquished control to her brother before he leaned back tiredly in his chair. She watched as it reclined slightly, as it was designed to do, and looked back at her brother as he rubbed tiredly at his face. Jack was doing something similar as he rested his head against one arm on the table and rubbed it in the familiar manner she had seen him do through the many years she had been on SG-1.

"That was just the politics," she told the man she viewed as one of her uncle's. "We haven't even started on the basic reports."

She hid a smile behind a hand as she heard Martouf groan at the prospect. "Tok'ra briefings are much easier and shorter," he commented as he sat up slowly. "I seem to remember them."

Cam chuckled as she stood up and moved over to the coffee pot on the other side of the room and poured three cups of black coffee into separate mugs for them all. Martouf took his and seemed to drink it with a sigh of happiness. Jack had a similar reaction as he held it almost possessively in his hands and sipped it carefully. Cam shook her head; a smile playing at the corner's of her lips before she sat down and drank her own. She nodded to the note that Jack had in front of him as she set her mug down on the polished, wooden surface of the table.

"What the note?" she asked him carefully.

Jack shrugged as he sipped from his coffee mug. "A request from the Tok'ra," he admitted. "Garshaw and Per'sus have requested your presence."

Martouf sighed as he looked at Cam and nodded slightly at her. "I'll continue to inform General O'Neill about Atlantis," he said, sounding almost resigned. "It will not be much of a problem."

Jack shook his head as he placed his mug down. "You'll be going too, Martouf," he said. "Garshaw's asked for you both." Martouf turned and looked at him curiously. "She managed to get your Shol'va status removed."

Cam smiled as she moved to embrace her brother, feeling him gingerly embrace her back in his shock. "You ain't chickening out on me now," she told him. "Garshaw will be more than happy to see you!"

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam looked around the desert plane the Stargate stood on as she pulled her long hair into a simple ponytail. She was glad that she had worn her old desert uniform as Martouf placed a hand on her shoulder and pointed to a sandy ridge just under a mile away. Cam blinked slightly and felt Kel'an enhance her eyesight before she saw the number of Tok'ra lining the sandy ridges. She smiled slightly as they all raised their Staff weapons in greeting. She raised her own as Kel'an cleared her eyes before both she and Martouf stepped down of the stone dais and made their way towards the Tok'ra.

Cam spun around slightly and took a deep breath. "It feels good to be back on a familiar desert planet," she commented as she pulled slightly at the sleeves of Aemilia's old dress from before she had become a host. "Don't you agree?"

Martouf smiled and nodded. "Indeed it does," he agreed. "It has been a long time since we were last amoung our own kind."

Cam smiled at him and they walked in silence as they neared the rest of the Tok'ra where they gathered around a circle area where the rings obviously stood. They both smiled and nodded as various Tok'ra touched their shoulders, arms or backs as they passed. Whatever decorum Cam had held while amoung the rest of the Tok'ra dissolved as she saw her father standing in the center of the collection before she launched herself at him. She felt Jacob return her embrace just as tightly as she gave him.

She didn't care about her decorum, and by her brother's reaction Martouf didn't as she held onto Jacob. "Welcome home!" he told them. "We've both missed you!" Her father pulled back slightly to look at her. "I should have apologised before you left, kid. I really should have."

Cam chuckled as she stepped back and looked at her father in his dark Tok'ra uniform. "Didn't think you worried that much dad," she commented as he gestured for them to come closer inside the ring of the Tok'ra.

Jacob chuckled. "I know," he agreed before he smiled. "Come on, there's someone that wants to see both of you."

Cam stepped close to her father, as did Martouf, before the rings came up like she remembered them and sighed when there was a flash of white light before they appeared inside the crystal lined tunnels. Jacob smiled at them as he led them through the seeming maze of twists and turns. He paused at one room and gestured for them to enter. Cam frowned as she did so, her hand cautiously going to the dagger at her belt.

She looked around the room and took in the classic appearance of a crystal table with a small pool in it while several chairs were scattered around it. "Sorry," Jacob said as he clasped his hands in front of him nervously and Cam frowned slightly at that. "It looks as though they've gone elsewhere. Give me a moment."

Cam nodded and watched as Jacob left. She turned to her brother and frowned again as she nodded after him.

"Did he ever act nervously before the programming?" she asked him carefully.

Martouf looked at her for a moment before he shook his head. "No," he said after a moment's thought. "He and Selmak never allowed themselves to show any sign of possible weakness in front of anyone." He shook his head. "That is most unlike him."

Cam nodded and looked at the customary guards outside the archway that acted like a door and sent out her familiar senses, searching for the familiar tingle that warned her of a symbiote, Tok'ra or Goa'uld. She frowned again as she sensed nothing coming from the guards and she turned once more to her brother.

"Can you sense them Marty?" she asked.

"Of course I can," he said calmly with a smile on his face.

Cam's frown deepened at his tone of voice. "Martouf?" she asked. "Are you alright?"

He frowned at her. "Of course," he replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"

**_That's not Martouf! _**Kel'an warned her, even as a cough echoed from the archway and Cam turned to look.

She bit back a scream when she saw Saroosh and Rosha standing in front of Jacob. "No!" she said as she moved back and away from them. "You're both dead!"

She watched in horror as they all changed, their bodies changing into Jaffa and Cam let out a scream when her surroundings shifted to Apophis' quarters on Netu.

"NO!"

A-A-A-A-A-A

Martouf groaned and held his head as he was wrenched mentally from Cam's side. He felt himself stumble before Lantash took control of his legs and stopped him from going too much further and causing damage to themselves or the others. He waited a moment for the headache to pass before he lifted his head and looked around for a moment.

He saw the others looking at him, including McKay and Teyla. Teyla stepped closer and placed a hand on his shoulder as he took in the surroundings of the Gateroom on Earth while General Hammond stood at the bottom. He looked at the man for a moment trying to sense something before he frowned. He moved down the ramp and stood in front of him.

"Who are you?" he asked him, not moving any further.

Hammond looked at him for a moment before he nodded. Martouf watched as his form disappeared and a greenish mist replaced it before Hammond returned. Martouf felt a streak of worry tear through him as he realised Cam was no where around.

"Where is my sister?" he asked. "Where is Camilla?"

'Hammond' looked passed him at the others. "She is still in her own mental reality," he told them. "She has a remarkable ability to renew us like no one that has passed through before has with her energy."

Martouf frowned as he looked at the others, sharing the same confused expressions. "My sister has no extra energy that would help you," Martouf told him. "She is a Tok'ra and no more!"

'Hammond' shook his head. "Even now, she is using her abilities and renewing us all," he said carefully.

Martouf turned back to him and grabbed the lapels of his dress blues as he let his anger roll onto his face. "You stop it now!" he told him. "She does not deserve any kind of torture you are putting her through."

Hammond shook his head, even as he disappeared for a moment, forcing Martouf to step through as he lost his balance. "It is too late to stop the memory," Hammond said as he reappeared while the Tok'ra climbed back onto the ramp, going around him. "If we were to stop it now, you all would die which is why you all need to leave when we allow you to awake." Martouf felt his stomach sink and he knew Lantash wasn't doing anything at that moment.

Martouf turned and looked at Sheppard, letting his emotional mask fall to let the younger man see what he was feeling. **_We won't leave without her! _**Lantash told him as he soothed his host for a moment.

Sheppard shook his head and stepped closer to 'Hammond' as he moved down the ramp. "If we return and Carter doesn't come with us, others will return and figure out how to access the Gate," he told him. "Then I guess millions of your kind would die." He gestured at 'Hammond' angrily. "We don't leave people behind, and Carter is definitely not someone who would want to be left behind."

Elizabeth stepped forwards then. "But if you allow us to leave with Camilla, we promise to never return," she told him. "Ever." She raised her hands in a placating gesture to him. "You will not have to fear us ever again – I give you my word!"

Sheppard, who had been looking at Elizabeth, looked back to 'Hammond'. "We'd like to go home," he admitted. "But we're not willing to kill millions of your kind to do it." He sighed. "Now, you've been inside our heads. You're – you're in our heads right now." He looked at him and Martouf thought he could see a pleading expression in his eyes. "You should know that we mean that."

'Hammond' looked at them for a moment and Martouf felt an almost searching feeling in his mind, not that much different from Lantash, before he nodded. "I understand," 'Hammond' said eventually. "We will send you to her memory, but we cannot stop it."

Martouf nodded and watched as everything snapped from the fake Gateroom to a sudden seemingly hot cave. He took a moment to look around and felt his stomach sink deeper. He heard the others coughing and he took a breath before he covered his nose and mouth in disgust at the smell of sulphur.

"Where on Earth are we?" McKay asked between coughs.

Martouf gestured for them to follow him. "We are in Camilla's memories of Netu, no where on Earth," he shouted over the noise of the people around them with a suppressed shudder. "This is Sokar's prison moon!"

He coughed once as he stepped into the open area under the bridge that had served as Apophis' speaking platform when he had taken control. They had been placed in the cell where the others had been, trying to heal and he tried to ignore seeing Jacob and Selmak lying weakly against the metal bars, slowly dying. He shook his head as he paused.

_Cam wasn't back in that cage, _he commented to Lantash.

**_No, _**his symbiote agreed. **_She's been taken to the quarters. As have you if my memory serves me._**

Martouf groaned as he picked up his slow pace and followed the sadly familiar path, ignoring the others, to the quarters that he and SG-1 had been tortured in all those years ago. He ignored the Jaffa and stepped through them, thankful that the 'mist' or 'fog' was allowing them through. He growled when a hand was placed on his shoulder and he spun around to see Sheppard looking at him curiously.

"What is this place?" he asked.

Martouf looked at him, searching his face for a moment before he sighed and nodded, stopping which allowed the others over. "This is my sister's memory of Netu," he told them. "Almost a year after I had met her, I came to Earth to seek the help of SG-1 in rescuing Selmak, Jacob Carter's symbiote." He ran a hand through his short, cropped hair. "Netu – in Tau'ri terms – is literally hell."

Sheppard and Ford's faces turned pale while Elizabeth nodded. "I remember reading a report on that mission," she said quietly. "This is where we are?"

Martouf nodded and looked back at Sheppard. "We were all tortured for specific pieces of information that we all held," he told him. "If this is a memory then my sister is being tortured as I speak to you." He held the younger human's gaze. "I swore she would never feel that pain again and I will not let you stop me from keeping that promise."

Ford looked at him before he nodded and looked at Sheppard. "Lead the way!" Sheppard told him.

Martouf turned and moved through the corridors, following the path he had been forced upon when he had been on Netu. He heard the others behind him before screams pierced the air and the older Tok'ra felt his heart freeze when he recognized them as Camilla's. He paused for a moment before he started running. He shouldered the doors to the crude but highly decorated private rooms aside.

Cam was crouched in the center of the room, her hands held in front of her as she cowered away from Apophis as he held one of the 'pain sticks' – as O'Neill had named them – ready to strike her. What caught Martouf's eyes were the two golden orbs in her hands, the two orbs arching between each other as they held Apophis back. Martouf looked at his sister as the others stopped behind him and looked at her in awe.

"CAM!" Elizabeth shouted.

The Tok'ra turned and Martouf felt himself flinch when he saw her eyes glowing and they were not like that of the Tok'ra or the Goa'uld; her eyes were white as she looked at them. Martouf ignored the possible dangers and moved over to her, taking her gently by the shoulders.

"Look at me Cam!" he told her. "We are not on Netu! Remember!"

"Get us back to our bodies now!" he heard Sheppard shout from his side as a hand was rested on Cam's shoulder. "All of us!"

Martouf felt a hard jolt run through his body, his heart pounding in his chest as his eyes snapped open, revealing the misty skies of the planet they had been on. It took a moment for Lantash to calm the frantic beating of his heart before Martouf remembered his sister and sat up, hearing the others doing the same as he moved into a crouch and turned to his sister, shaking her slightly as he lifted her body up.

"Camilla!" he snapped out. "You are not on Netu! Listen to me! You are safe! I promise you! Open your eyes and wake up!"

He watched as the balls of energy faded from his sister's hands, revealing the bloodied, torn and charred skin of her palms as her eyes opened sluggishly. "Oh, Onak," she breathed seconds before tears started to fall. "Mai'tac."

Martouf moved then, drawing Camilla in close to his body, letting her cling to him as she started to cry. Martouf felt her wrapping her arms around his shoulder, her hands clinging to his Tok'ra shirt tightly despite the damage to them, while he felt her bury her face against his shoulder, trying to stifle her sobs. He wrapped her carefully up in his arms, making sure that one arm was under her knees while the other anchored her upper body against his.

"She okay?" he heard Major Sheppard ask as Camilla buried her head against his chest.

Martouf felt his sister crying fully against him as he shifted slightly before wincing as his grip shifted slightly and made holding his sister that much harder. He felt Lantash shift his body slightly, muscles in his arm, back and his legs twitching, tensing and relaxing accordingly as his symbiote shifted Camilla slightly higher in his arms to the point that Martouf felt the strain disappear. Martouf turned then, sure that both he and Lantash weren't going to drop Camilla, and looked at the Major.

The male Tok'ra saw a flash of sympathy cross the Tau'ri's face and eyes and Martouf shook his head slightly, feeling Camilla stifling her sobs once more as she tensed, shutting the world out. "I have not seen Camilla like this since I met her," he said before he shook his head. "She was not this bad when Anubis attacked her, branded her."

**_You know I won't allow anything to happen to her, _**Lantash said quietly, sadly in his mind, his emotions mirroring that of his host.

_I know, _Martouf responded quietly. _I know, old friend._

A-A-A-A-A-A

**SEVERAL HOURS LATER**

Cam lay curled up on the medical bed Martouf had placed her on before he had left for Carson to check on her. Her hands lay bandaged at her stomach as she ignored the Scottish doctor speaking to someone out of her line of sight. She could feel the gel of the local anaesthetic that Carson had applied when Kel'an had been unable to stop the pain of the severe burns to her palms.

**_You alright kid? _**Kel'an asked her carefully.

Cam let herself curl tighter for a moment, not thinking of replying, knowing that her oldest friend would see what she knew. Cam flinched slightly when she heard someone pull the only seat near her bed closer before they sat down. She heard Carson walking away before he closed the door to the private room that she had been placed in.

"Camilla?"

Cam moved her head slightly and saw Dr. Heightmeyer sitting in the chair, looking at her questioningly. The Tok'ra sniffed slightly and rubbed carefully at her face as she uncurled slightly. Cam nodded at her politely.

"Tek'ma'te Dr.," she greeted her quietly.

Heightmeyer smiled slightly and nodded back. "Good morning Camilla," she responded. "Can I speak with you about what happened on M5S-224?" Cam nodded. "Do you mind telling me about what you saw?"

Cam shrugged slightly. "If you read the report for Netu, you'd know what I went through the first time," she said as she looked at her bandaged hands.

Heightmeyer's smile faltered for a moment. "I've read it," she acknowledged. "But I would like to know what you went through this time. Dr. Beckett told me you wouldn't speak with anyone when you were brought here."

Cam sniffed again and nodded. "I went through the Gate to Earth," she began quietly and she saw the blonde doctor lean forwards slightly to catch what she was saying. "I saw my uncle again." Cam smiled slightly as she felt Kel'an give her a gentle hug. "Then Marty and I were called to the Tok'ra homeworld." She took a shuddering breath. "I saw my mother and sister and I knew it wasn't real." She shuddered slightly. "Everything changed to Netu."

Heightmeyer frowned at her. "How did you know it wasn't real if you saw your family?"

Cam chuckled mirthlessly and carefully sat herself up. "Saroosh, Al'ek and Martouf's mother, died when Jacob – my adopted dad – became a Tok'ra," she told her. "Rosha – Marty's mate really – and her host Jolinar died before dad became a Tok'ra." She sniffed quietly, using her bare arm to wipe under her nose. "My dad and Selmak, they never, ever acted nervous and that seemed wrong, as well as my father apologising for things we said to each other before I left."

Heightmeyer nodded then and leaned back. "I think I would prefer it Camilla if you called me Kate," she said. "You don't seem to personally be affected beyond what is normal had anyone been in your situation." Cam nodded and looked at her bandaged hands as they lay folded in her lap. "As soon as Dr. Beckett says you can, you'll be returned to active duty."

With that Heightmeyer – Kate, Cam reminded herself – stood up and walked out of the room. Cam absently played with the loose threads of the medical blanket that covered her before she heard the doors open again. She forced herself not to look up as she stilled her hands and heard the person sit down in the empty chair.

"Cam?" It was Martouf, the one person Cam had been hoping not to see for a while. "Look at me sister."

Cam reluctantly raised her head and looked at her brother as he looked at her curiously. "What are you hiding Camilla?" he asked her. "You haven't spoken to me since before we returned to Atlantis." Cam swallowed convulsively and felt she wanted to look away. "Is it about what I saw?"

Cam nodded slightly. "Maybe," she answered quietly. "Maybe."

Martouf reached slightly for one hand and Cam reluctantly took his hand. "You feel ashamed," he commented. "Why do you feel ashamed of the memory the 'mist' tortured you with."

Cam swallowed and wiped at her eyes again. "It was one of the worst memories that they could find," she said.

Martouf smiled and squeezed her hand gently. "You were ashamed because Netu is one of your worst memories?" he asked her.

Cam nodded. "I believed you might have thought that Al'ek's death would have been my worst memory," she answered quietly.

Martouf got up from his chair and sat on the edge of the bed and gestured with his free hand for her to come closer and lean against him. Cam followed and let herself relax slightly as her brother held her tight against him for a moment.

"Would you think that my worst memory would be the death of the host before me, or trying to kill you and both Earth's and our leaders?" he asked her carefully as he looked at her, leaning back slightly to do so. "Hm?"

Cam nodded in understanding against his chest and sniffed again as she rubbed at her eyes when she felt tears rising. "I know," she told him.

Martouf tightened his embrace for a few seconds before he let go of her and climbed off of the bed. "You need to rest," he told her. "Let Kel'an heal the damage."

Cam nodded as she carefully lay down. "See you brother," she said before she closed her eyes, hearing Martouf chuckle as he left.

A-A-A-A-A-A

_Everything was white, that was what struck Cam as she looked around, spinning to look at the starkness of it all. There seemed to be no ending to it all before Cam felt someone behind her._

_"Where am I?" she asked carefully, not turning._

_"Wherever you want to be," the person responded and Cam heard a distinct female voice tell her that. "You can look at me child."_

_Cam turned around and looked at the woman that stood opposite her, wearing a greyish business suit while her long brown hair was pulled into a loose ponytail. Cam frowned at her as she took in her appearance._

_"Who are you?" she asked._

_The woman smiled and nodded her head politely in greeting. "As I understand both Skaara and Daniel Jackson mentioned me," she said._

_Cam frowned and looked through her memories for a moment before she bowed respectfully at the woman. "Oma Desala," she said carefully. "Why have the Ancients accosted me?"_

_Oma laughed lightly as the white surroundings changed to the briefing room by the Gateroom. "The Others do not send me as their messenger," she said as they both sat down. "I come to speak on their behalf."_

_Cam nodded as she absently clicked her fingers, hearing the popping sounding all of her fingers gave for a moment. "What's the message?"_

_Oma smiled and shook her head after she had looked at her for a moment. "I can see speaking in riddles around you will not fare as well as it did for Daniel Jackson," she commented. "You have used your Ascended abilities."_

_Cam frowned before she felt her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "Really?!" she asked. "I had guessed, I mean, no Tok'ra can do what I did…" She let her voice drift off as she realised how alone she suddenly felt._

_"Peace child!" Oma spoke as a worry spread through her and Cam found herself obeying. "Your symbiote is perfectly alright, we all know what it is that she does to keep you alive with the knowledge. The Others had hoped it would still be many years before you discovered the powers."_

_Cam looked at her hands and saw the burn marks there, slowly healing as she raised them for Oma to see. "Because my body wasn't ready?" she asked and Oma nodded in response. "Jack gained his abilities for a short time when he had the database in his mind."_

_Oma smirked slightly and nodded. "We intervened then," she admitted. "Master Bra'tac is still needed in the Milky Way and his death then would have been in vain for what he is still needed for."_

_Cam nodded again. "I understand," she answered. "What do the others want to do about what happened?"_

_Oma shrugged at her. "There is some contention about your abilities and whether or not you should keep them until the right time," she told her truthfully._

_Cam cocked her head slightly in curiosity. "And you?"_

_"I am in favour of you keeping them," she responded. "I fear you will be in need of them before too much longer."_

_Cam frowned as the surroundings started dimming, a shock literally passing through her. "What's going on!?" she asked as she surged to her feet before she sat back down, another shock passing through her. "What's happening!? Can you help me with these new powers?"_

_"Rest child," Oma told her delicately. "The knowledge you seek will reveal itself when you need it. For now you need to wake up."_

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam started awake seconds later, hearing the heart monitor above her head blaring a warning shrill out to the entirety of the Infirmary seconds before Carson's face appeared above hers, a defibrillator in his hands as he muttered Gaelic curses.

**_Don't you dare scare me like that again! _**Kel'an shouted in her mind, forcing a wince from Cam at that. **_What the hell happened? Why the hell did your heart stop?!_**

"Donnae scare me like tha' lass!" the Scottish doctor reprimanded her as the monitor slowly stopped blaring in the air. "We thought ya were dead."

Cam rubbed absently at her chest, coughing. "We?" she asked as she felt a nurse carefully pulling blanket up over her.

She watched as Carson nodded to the other side of the bed and she turned her head to see who else was in the infirmary. The sight that greeted her had her swallowing.

"Oh shit."

Her brother stood in the doorway, his hands clutching at the metal firmly. "What just happened?" he asked slowly.

Cam swallowed convulsively at that. "Oma," she answered her brother quietly. "Oma Desala."

She heard her brother groaning even as she heard Carson moving around beside the bed. "Who is this lass, 'Oma'?" he asked.

Cam shared a look with her brother as she knew both Kel'an and Lantash were thinking back to their first journey to Kelowna and Langarra.

"She is an Ascended Ancient, doctor," Martouf answered. "And she has chosen to speak with Camilla."

**_You're picking up more of Daniel Jackson's traits than the rest of SG-1 has done over the years, Camilla,_**Kel'an muttered in her mind. **_Why does everything seem to happen to you?_**

_Not by my choice, Kel'an, _she responded. _If I had my way, I'd be on Earth, in some countryside house in the USA and I would not have left it if I could help it!_

**_Not with my memories, you wouldn't._**

_Oh shut it Kel'!_

"Camilla lass?" she heard Carson call, slowly snapping her out of her conversation. "Are ye sure that it was an Ancient?"

Cam nodded slowly in answer. "I spoke with her once before," she said quietly. "I'm sure."

"Well..." the Scottish doctor muttered. "Everything happens ta ye lass."

* * *

_"What was once underground is now coming to the surface." - Gavin Bryars_

_"[A] home wasn't built in a day." – Jane Sherwood Ace_

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Response to reviews/reviwers:

**Clarabelle26: **Okay Clarabelle26, considering the number of reviews you left, I'll respond to you first and work my way down. The basic timeline for this lovely fic of mine goes something like this: Camilla's born in 1984, 8 years later in 1992 she runs away from home, coming across Al'ek and Kel'an. now, according to official sources, the first mission to Abydos for SG-1 was 1995/96, season 1 starting up in 1997 (or there about). By the time I've introduced Camilla to season 2 and the Tok'ra, I've placed her at around 14 years old. So, until she joined the program, no one knew anything about Kel'an or Al'ek.

2nd, Clarabelle26, while I may agree with your opinion on the pairing, the John/Cam pairing will not be happening in this story. **_However _**I am fully intending to do a separate story that splits in season 2 to cover that pairing. Over the last few months, I've gone from complete Ronon shipper to more of an understanding John, Rodney and several other male characters in Atlantis. Until I've reached the point in season 2 where I want to split off and make sure I write the right pairings, I'll continue writing "Tok'ra in Atlantis", so you may not see anything for a while yet.

Clarabelle, I really do appreciate your sympathy for Camilla, but because of her opinion on scars – that being that they're a symbol of everything a person has lived through – I'm not going to outright get rid of her scaring, but rather I'm going to do something that I know I would do myself if put in Camilla's shoes. You should be able to read that in early season 2, before I plan on splitting off. Also, I understand your feelings about what happened in **Chapter 4: Suspicion Amoung The Ranks**, but I'm trying to give Camilla and Elizabeth something to firm their tentative friendship. As much as I agree that the actions I wrote can be construed as "racist", my whole intention was to show the general human psyche in a situation like that; in fact, something like this happened after Pearl Harbour with many American born Japanese people being shut out by the Caucasian Americans all because the attackers were Japanese and the American people were afraid that others in America with Asian heritage were acting as spies despite any real evidence to support that fear while legislation from the top merely supported the opinions of the people. I'm trying to bring a lot of realism to this fic of mine, spending the majority of my time when I'm not doing my work working on sections for this.

I'm constantly going over pieces, taking out all the fairytale hints of life out of it and trying to replace that with realism where I can, though admittedly, the Stargate Programme is something I do consider completely unrealistic – but I enjoy the show and that certainly more than makes up for the lack of realism.

**Shadows-of-Realm**: I'm glad you're liking this so far and I'm really happy that there's no more confusion with the flashbacks, but I'm seriously planning on cutting them out and sticking them in a separate story from here on out – it just takes too much of my time to try and complete an Atlantis episode _AND _an episode of SG-1. I absolutely adore both series, but I can't keep up with the demand for the chapters, it's nearly killing me. You see, I have asthma – it's bad enough that a serious lack of sleep can cause a bad flare up and send me spiralling down to flu's and colds and all those _lovely _little bugs – and with the amount of sleep I've not been getting I'm starting down that road and trust me, you don't want me going much further down it or it'll be another year before this story of mine is updated with another chapter!

I really want to continue on with this, carry on writing, getting reviews like yours and just improving both as a writer and as a person through this (I'm sort of hoping that the views of the other readers will shape and form some of mine). Your opinions, Shadows, have been helpful and very much appreciated.

**scottiedog**: For a moment I thought I had a Scottish man reading this, then I looked at your page, while a shame on that front, I absolutely adore the reason behind the penname and love it! Now, I'm really glad that you're liking this from Camilla's viewpoint, but I do warn you that later on in the story, I have planned to start juggling other viewpoints alongside Cam/Kel', in fact this story has part of it since I want to see how everyone is going to accept the change in format.

Also, scottiedog, I do plan on carrying this on, I don't want to let this fall back into Limbo where I may never get it back. It was a struggle these last two times, with Camilla and Kel'an fighting me the whole way. I fully intend on updating as often as I can to keep this alive until the end where I sign off for the last time.

**Incognito**: I hadn't realised, not entirely. I will endeavour to make the changes in the prequel I'm planning on writing. If you've read the notes at the top, then I hope you understand why I'm not adding any more history pieces to this story in the near future. I hope to, in the history pieces for the prequel, to make things sound a lot more realistic, because, like you said, a teenager going around with a bunch of – essentially – black ops soldiers would be fairly strange.

Is it bad that I've come to value your insight on what I've written? You've pointed things out that I've wanted to fix, to change, and I hope that I continue to get your reviews. Please, let me know what you think of this chapter and any criticisms that need to be said.

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Now, with the reviews done, I wish to remind people that there is an ongoing poll on who everyone thinks Camilla should get together with. If you go and click my penname at the top of this page, the poll is right at the top of my bio, so have a vote and I'll take a look. While I have promised at least one pairing to a reader, I will take all comments/polls seriously and consider how to work in a relationship – a friendship at the least – in to the story. (AN: if this seems like a duplicate from the top of the page, well… it is. I want to make sure I get you, the readers, at both ends to make sure you know!)

I wish to remind all of my faithful readers that while I will en devour to have chapters out as often as I can, I cannot, right now, promise exactly when they will be coming out since my family and I are moving in just over a week. I hope to get a chapter out to you all next week, but I cannot promise this either.

Please read, review and enjoy!


	8. Chap 7: The Eye Of The Storm

Okay, is there anything I can say to apologise about being late with this update? I checked when I last updated, and it was early last month!

Well, I've moved house and the place still looks like a gymnast's dream training ground with the boxes and furniture littering the place (and that is certainly not taking into account all the boxes my family and I have in storage!). I would have updated sooner if I hadn't done a broadband speed test and realised that using the old-fashioned Dial-Up would have been faster for doing _anything _on the Internet. I've been waiting ages for the broadband provider to get something sorted and they finally did!

Now I can finally upload this chapter for you all to read. I've been editing and changing this chapter since I finished it on moving day and I'm not convinced that this is ready – but I figure you guys have waited long enough for an update. I'm not about to leave this story in Limbo again – it just wouldn't be fair to anyone.

I really would like to apologise for this taking so long to actually update and throw myself at your mercy!

I would just like to let my readers know that this wouldn't be happening without your input; knowing that you're all reading this story and like it enough to vote, read, review and follow is what makes me sit down and write more of this down. If you guys drop me a review, I'll do my best to answer it! I promise!

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Standard Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis belongs to MGM and Brad Wright and the other creators. I own nothing of the original idea behind Stargate. Only Camilla, Kel'an and the various other OC's and maybe the plot twists are mine.

AN: I would like to let my readers know now that while I will be sticking pretty – if not extremely – close to the plot lines of both the SG-1 series and Atlantis, there will be episodes that I will either ignore or gloss over. It's not because I don't want to write the episodes in, it is because of my own viewpoints on the issues raised. For example, the Atlantis episode Childhood's End in Season 1 will not be done; while I may agree with how the issue of suicide was treated in this episode, if I were to write my own viewpoint – or even attempt to moderate my own viewpoint – Camilla would come across as either extremely bigoted or extremely weak, something I do not feel would add anything to the storyline.

However, if you, the readers, wish for that to change, then, please let me know in the reviews you leave me.

* * *

I wish to remind people that there is an ongoing poll on who everyone thinks Camilla should get together with. If you go and click my penname at the top of this page, the poll is right at the top of my bio, so have a vote and I'll take a look. While I have promised at least one pairing to a reader, I will take all comments/poll votes seriously and consider how to work in a relationship – a friendship at the least – into the story.

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**Chapter 7: Eye Of The Storm**

After Cam had been released from the Infirmary, the woman had been surprised by the sheer tenacity that McKay showed in constantly talking with her, trying to get her to allow a small experiment to be run on her. It had taken three days before Cam had given in, promising to join the man in his small, lab, set aside for small projects.

So it was why Cam was now sat on an Ancient table in front of McKay in the lab as he typed away at a laptop he'd brought into the room. The Tok'ra had decided to turn up dressed in her Tok'ra uniform which now lay in halves; the dark leather shirt and cotton undershirt folded carefully over the back of one of the multiple chairs in the room, the boots placed carefully under the table that Cam sat on, wearing her sports bra and the bottom half of her Tok'ra uniform, the dark leather contrasting with the woman's pale skin.

The woman sighed as McKay continued to type away at his laptop and she couldn't help but wriggle slightly at the feeling of the multiple sensors attached to her exposed skin. She had flushed earlier when McKay had insisted on placing them on her himself and had seen his own blush before he had settled to type away on his laptop. The sensors had been attached to all of the major muscle groupings on her upper half of her body.

"You nearly finished McKay?" she asked him a few moments later, tensely waiting for his answered.

McKay gestured at her impatiently before he looked up. "You know I had to get the pads on you zeroed right, Carter?" he asked her.

**_Easy!_**Kel'an warned her when Cam felt her own temper rising.

Cam took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment to help center herself before she opened her eyes and glared at the Canadian for a moment. "I think that after everything we've been through McKay, you can call me Cam," she told him. "Or at least you can call me Camilla."

McKay looked at her astounded, confusion clear in his eyes. "Why?" he asked her as he leaned back in his seat.

Cam shrugged slightly at him. "I don't know," she began carefully. "Maybe it's because, in the fifth year of the program, you saved my Uncle from dying?" She crossed her arms and absently tapped her chin with one finger. "Or maybe because you helped save Earth when my brother had returned to me? Or because you've saved our lives here?" She looked at him. "Should I carry one with the list or let you finish it yourself McKay?"

He nodded then. "Alright… Cam," he said eventually. "Call me Rodney."

Cam smirked and reached out to him, holding a hand out to him. "Nice to meet ya," she said as he took it reluctantly and they shook. "Anything you want me to do?"

Rodney leaned back in his seat and seemed to think for a moment. "Can you meditate like Teal'c?" he asked her. "I want to see if the energy levels appear when you're in a calm state of mind."

Cam smirked as she pulled her legs up onto the table, settling them lotus style and resting her hands on her knees before she closed her eyes. She followed the steps that Teal'c had taught her for kelno'reem and let silence wrap itself around her before she allowed herself to wallow in it, seeking strength and assurance.

"Okay," Rodney's voice broke through to her, startling her out of her meditation. "That's cool!"

Cam opened her eyes and looked at him. "What is?" she asked him.

Rodney stood up and brought his laptop over, muttering frantically under his breath before he looked at her as she swung her legs over the edge of the table and moved closer to the small ledge. "Your energy levels tripled when you went in," he told her as he turned around and allowed her to see the quick graph and she felt her breath hitch slightly before he pointed to a small series of peaks. "This is before you began meditating." He then pointed to the larger ones a little further down the graph. "These are from when you did."

Cam felt herself smiling slightly while she heard Kel'an chuckling madly in her mind. "That's actually quite cool," she admitted as Rodney tapped at his laptop for a moment before he looked at her. "What?!"

"You mind trying to bring those ball things into your hands?" he asked her. "If that's alright with Kel'an and everything."

Cam smirked at him as she closed her eyes and bowed her head slightly. _Is that alright with you?_

Kel'an sent her an ambivalent shrug. **_I'll heal your hands if they get damaged again,_ **she answered._ **Admittedly I want to see how your body reacts with a passive frame of mind.**_

Cam nodded before she opened her eyes and raised them to Rodney's. "Move back a bit," she ordered him as she pushed herself back from the edge of the table and easily swung her legs back up into the lotus position.

"Why should I?" Rodney asked her with a hint of irritation.

Cam chuckled as she placed her hands – palms up – on her knees while she looked at him. "Do you really want to be within three feet of me if I lose control?" she asked him. "I wouldn't if I were you."

She smiled when she saw the Canadian take a large step back, taking the laptop with him. She gave a quiet chuckle before she closed her eyes for the meditation. She searched for the strength and assurance she had found last time in the silence before a small ball of energy appeared. She mentally reached for it, moving slowly, cautiously, as she did so. After a moment's hesitation she grabbed hold of it and forced some of the energy through to her hands, imagining two small balls of energy in them, smaller than the ones that had burned her all those days before.

She gasped after a moment as she felt the energy surge through her, lifting her flagging reserves. She allowed the energy to stay in her hands until she felt the old burning sensation and pulled sharply back from the energy, feeling her connection disappear as she allowed her body to get used to the feeling. She jerked slightly as she felt both her hands being lifted and her eyes snapped open to see Rodney holding them gingerly, looking at her palms curiously.

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

Rodney jumped as if he'd been hit with an electric shock, letting go of her hands. "Sorry," he said. "Just wanted to see what the effects of the energy on your hands were."

Cam nodded in understanding, even as she nodded to the first aid box nearby. "You mind?" she asked him.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam frowned as she looked at the screen behind Rodney and Zelenka. She saw a dual coloured image scan that had been imported from Sheppard's Jumper. Cam continued to frown as she crossed her arms and felt her bandaged hands against her bare skin; with her hands bloodied from Rodney's experiment only an hour previous, she had put on the cotton undershirt and carried the rest of her Tok'ra uniform over one arm until she'd entered the Briefing Room, tossing the leather jacket onto the nearest table. Despite the cotton undershirt, Cam couldn't help but feel exposed.

"What are we looking at?" she asked the two scientists. "All I'm seeing – and so is Kel'an – are a bunch of colours on the screen with a diagram of the mainland."

Rodney looked at her blithely for a moment. "This planet is basically the same size as Earth," he began. "Now, hurricanes on Earth never get as big as this bad boy because once they hit the shore, the brakes get put on." He jerked his thumb over at the image behind him as he spoke. "Without as much landmass to slow it down here, it's just… uh… gaining momentum."

"Both of them are," Zelenka put in.

Cam frowned as she looked at the two scientists as Rodney nodded in agreement. "Hold on," she said, raising one hand. "Both of them?!"

"We saw only one," Teyla said, just as confused as Cam.

"It only looked like one," Rodney told her. "Now, according to the Ancient database, every twenty to thirty years the sea gets unseasonably warm. Now that – for reasons too boring to get into – means that hurricanes are much more likely to occur."

"Well, like El Nino," Zelenka interjected as he gestured in front of himself. "The ocean–"

"–Like I said," Rodney interrupted as he glared at the Czech. "Too boring to get into."

"Focus," Elizabeth said to both of them.

Cam smirked slightly. "Well basically," Rodney began, "if you have a situation where there are a bunch of hurricanes out there, the likelihood of two colliding is greatly increased – that's what's happening."

"It's more like a merger than a collision," Zelenka agreed. "They are intersecting and combining their power."

Rodney nodded slightly. "And it's headed right towards us," he agreed.

"You just said the Ancients experienced these storms every twenty to thirty years," Elizabeth said. "Atlantis must have some sort of precautions put in place."

Cam nodded. "They did," she said, bringing the others to look at her. "In the years gone by, they had the shields or were submerged in the water deep enough not to be affected."

Martouf nodded from where he stood by the doors, leaning against one of the shut ones. "I believe we can remove those options from our list," he said.

Sheppard nodded from where he stood by one of the stained glass windows. "What else have we got?" he asked.

Cam raised an eyebrow as she looked at the two scientists as they both gave varying degrees of 'no-idea' with either gestures or expressions.

"Nothing," Zelenka said. "It is a real threat." He spread his hands as he leaned back in his seat. "The high winds alone will wreak havoc."

"C'mon guys!" Sheppard snapped. "This city's been around for a long time."

"Storm surge is inevitable," Zelenka answered.

"Not to mention the fact that by moving over a landmass just before hitting us, the likelihood of tornadoes and electrical activity is greatly increased," Rodney said, throwing his own idea of the storm in.

"This is Atlantis!" Sheppard snapped as he gestured around him. "I mean, they've gotta be able to handle that… right?"

Rodney shook his own head. "No," he answered.

"Why not?" Elizabeth asked.

Cam sighed as she felt Kel'an gently nudging at her mind. She closed her eyes for a moment and stepped aside. Kel'an lifted her head a heartbeat later.

**"The Ancients knew they had a forcefield that was infinitely capable of holding back everything that nature –" **Kel'an began.

"Or, for that matter, the Wraith," Rodney interjected.

Kel'an nodded politely to him in recognition. **"– could throw at them,"** she continued. **"From all available translations, without the protection the shields give, the city is extremely vulnerable."**

"Even our conservative calculations project widespread structural damage," Zelenka interjected.

"Flooding could sink the city entirely," Rodney said.

Ford frowned from next to Kel'an. "How could something as big as Atlantis just sink?" he asked with an incredulous tone in his voice.

Kel'an raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm sure the passengers on the Titanic were asking themselves the same question," Sheppard answered sagely.

Kel'an shook her head and looked at the young Marine next to her host. **"The larger something is, Lieutenant," **Kel'an told him quietly. **"The easier it is to sink."**

Rodney nodded at Sheppard, recognising his comment. "Yes, well, let's not!" he commented.

Sheppard frowned for a moment. "So what you're saying is," he began slowly, seeming to get the idea straight in his own mind, "if Teyla and I hadn't discovered this, we'd…"

"We would be in even bigger trouble," Elizabeth continued for him when he had trailed off. She looked at the two scientists. "Alright, what's the plan?"

Rodney shrugged. "By my calculations we're just under, what…?" He looked to Zelenka out of habit. "Twelve hours until the storm hits, so… uh… we plan to have plan…"

Zelenka nodded in agreement. "Yeah," he said quietly.

"… by then."

Everyone nodded, even as Kel'an looked at Rodney. **"My host and I will join you when we have changed," **she said. **"Where might we find you?"**

Rodney stood up as he closed his laptop and switched the large screen behind him off. "My lab good enough for you Kel'an?" he asked.

Kel'an paused for a moment. **_That alright with you kid?_**

_Perfectly._

Kel'an nodded at him. **"That is perfectly alright Dr. McKay," **she said. **"We shall meet you there."**

She nodded once more before she turned around and left the room. She heard Martouf behind her as she descended the steps in front of the Gate. She slowed slightly and turned her head to see her host's brother walking next to her.

"Why are your hands bandaged Kel'an?" he asked her carefully as they moved to the nearest transporter.

Kel'an shrugged as they moved through the corridors. **"Dr. McKay wished to test Camilla's new found abilities," **she said as she looked at him. **"Having her bring the energy onto a physical manifestation was the last thing we did." **Kel'an raised her host's hands. **"The damage that has been done is only to the first few layers. We stopped just as the pain blossomed and the blood started to appear. The bandages are as a precaution against infection."**

Martouf looked at her sceptically. "Let me see your hands," he said.

Kel'an shook her head. **"Not here Martouf," **she answered as they stopped at the transporter. **"It would be better in our quarters after Cam has had the chance to put on some decent clothes." **With that she swung her arm in front of the sensor and stepped in.

"I agree very much with that thought," Martouf muttered as he stepped in after her.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam sighed as she sat at one of the multitude of laptops in Rodney's lab. She was getting a headache from Rodney and Zelenka arguing loudly back and forth about the possibility of using the generators to power the shields, as said by one of the now crying scientists who was in a corner, rocking back and forth. Cam shook her head as she realised how barbed a tongue her friend had.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Rodney snapped at Zelenka. "I've already thought of that!"

Zelenka gestured to the still bubbling scientist. "He may be onto something!" he snapped back.

"I've already thought of it – it doesn't…" Rodney began and Cam winced as she heard the anger in his voice. "Yes, the naquadah generators could be used to power select sections of the city, but when you subtract the area that need to be secured just to protect themselves, it doesn't leave much power to shield anything else and the city breaks apart because of the tidal swell!"

Cam nodded from where she sat. **_He has put in a lot of thought to that one scenario,_ **Kel'an observed.

_He has to,_ Cam answered. _He's got to be one step ahead of the others so that he can come up with ideas no one else will think of._

Kel'an shrugged. "We could relocate some of them," Zelenka said and gestured with his hands to form a small, invisible, ball. "Put them closer together."

"You're right," Rodney said sarcastically, "if only we had a magical tool that could slow down time." He looked scathingly at the Czech. "I foolishly left mine on Earth – Did you bring yours?!"

"You know, you're not pleasant when you're like this, McKay," Zelenka observed.

"I'm always like this," Rodney told him.

"My point exactly," Zelenka muttered as he moved to his own laptop nearby.

Cam sighed again. "Rodney," she called and gestured for the scientist to walk over. She didn't miss the anger that seemed to ooze out of him as he stalked over to her.

"What?" he asked her.

Cam looked at her hands. "How much energy can I give the city?" she asked him quietly. "I haven't pushed the boundaries, but maybe I could supply a bit more power."

Rodney seemed to think as he brought the graph on the laptop in front of her. "If you were able to stay in the meditation thing long enough," he began carefully, "you might be able to supply only a small percentage."

"How much?"

Rodney shook his head. "Not enough," he told her. "You won't be able to give enough power to keep the rest of the city protected and not let the energy kill you through blood loss."

"Well, I got a green light from Smeadon and the Manarians," Sheppard commented, unintentionally interrupting them as he walked into the lab with Ford in tow. "I'm not sure how pleased he'll be if we get stuck there, though." Cam looked at him and saw he was looking at Rodney's not-to-confident expression. "That's not going to happen, though, right?"

"Of course it's not!" Rodney told him as he continued to look at the graph. "We can always Gate off to another planet."

Cam watched as Sheppard sneered slightly at him. "Comforting!" he agreed. "Thank you!"

"Are we sure there's no part of the mainland we could go to?" Ford asked.

"Everywhere we've explored is in the path of the storm," Teyla said as she walked into the room with Elizabeth. "My people are evacuating even now."

Sheppard bit his lip. "Still, Ford's right," he said. "I mean, the mainland's the size of North America." He looked at Rodney as he stood up. "You're telling me the entire continent's gonna get hit? It's just I'd rather not owe Smeadon any favours!"

Cam rubbed at her temples as a headache started to blossom. "If the city is lost to the storm," she began carefully, "we lose any access to the Stargate."

Elizabeth nodded. "We don't even know if the Puddle Jumpers are submergible if that was to happen," she agreed.

"Well, McKay will come up with something," Sheppard said.

Rodney shrugged. "I will try," he promised. "But despite what you all may think, I'm not Superman."

Cam frowned as Sheppard gave Rodney a look. "Was anyone seriously thinking that?" he asked as he looked around.

Cam shook her head, as did Elizabeth before they looked to the scientists, seeing similar reactions, although they were minute. Sheppard looked at Ford who shook his own head.

"No, sir," he answered.

Sheppard looked to Zelenka who shook his head in return. "Never!"

Rodney sighed. "Fine!" he snapped. "My point is, the storm will affect over seventy percent of the mainland, and Atlantis isn't safe either." He ran a hand through his short hair. "If you want everyone to live, you Gate them offworld."

Cam shook her head as they all looked at each other, concern written clearly on their faces. "Ooooh boy!" she muttered.

A-A-A-A-A-A

**TWO HOURS LATER**

Cam shook her head as she carefully re-wrapped her injured hands. She bit into the tape and tore it before she sealed the bandage on her left hand.

"Rodney checked for me," she continued as she spoke to Elizabeth in her office. "The amount of energy that I was producing during the tests won't be enough even if I were to grasp more of the energy and bring into a physical matter to be used." She began wrapping her other hand. "Rodney says that it won't be enough to protect some of the less than completely necessary areas. We would need the shield to be up before I could do anything remotely useful."

Elizabeth sighed and stood up from where she sat behind her desk. She moved over to the Tok'ra and took the bandages from her. "Is there anything you can do to help?" she asked as she easily wrapped her hand and wrist.

Cam shook her head again. "The most I can do right now is translate pieces of Ancient that Rodney and Zelenka need done quickly," she said.

Elizabeth carefully tore a piece of surgical tape and fixed the bandage in place before she looked at the younger woman. "What would you say if I told you to leave with the others?" she asked her.

Cam chuckled. "I would politely tell you what I thought of that idea," she answered. "I would also stow away in a part of the city when everyone else was leaving so that I could stay and keep watch."

Elizabeth smiled at her. "Then I won't order you," she commented.

Cam frowned and looked at the expedition's leader. "My brother spoke to you about me didn't he?" she asked.

Elizabeth nodded. "He wanted to make sure that you would leave so you wouldn't be in any danger," she told her. "He's genuinely worried for you."

Cam groaned and rubbed at her face. "I know that!" she muttered. "He spent most of his time on Earth keeping watch over me. Spent the first month making sure I wasn't straining my back until it scarred over!" She ran a hand through her hair. "I should have seen this coming!"

Before Elizabeth could say anything Zelenka and Rodney had rushed in. "What is the one thing keeping us from having a shield?" Rodney asked her.

"That would be…" Elizabeth began.

"Power," Rodney continued. "And what does the mega-storm-from-hell have lots of?"

"Power."

"In the form of…?"

Elizabeth looked at them incredulously. "You wanna build a windmill?!" she asked.

Cam looked at the Canadian and Czech. "Are you two mad?!" she asked them.

"Electricity," Rodney told them, answering his question to them.

"Atlantis is designed to withstand substantial lightning strikes," Zelenka said. "There are lightning rods all over the city."

"All those rods are channelled into four main grounding stations," Rodney continued.

"In turn, those grounding stations discharge electricity back into the ocean, keeping Atlantis safe from massive electrical shocks due to lightning strikes."

"Now, many of the hallways are lined with a superconductive material that allows a safe, low-voltage transfer of power throughout the city…"

"…which of course means that –"

"Yes, I'm getting there!" Rodney said as he gestured for Zelenka to stay quiet. "Let's say the grounding stations weren't around. Every time lightning struck the city, those halls would become supercharged."

Cam frowned. "Hold on, you want –"

"If we were able to disable the grounding stations –" Rodney interrupted her before being interrupted by Zelenka.

"– which we think we can –"

"– every time lightning struck the city, Atlantis would experience a momentary massive power surge."

"Now, that energy, if it's channelled correctly –" Zelenka began.

"– Yes, of course if channelled correctly," Rodney interrupted him, "could conceivably be used to charge up the shield generator. Now, the more severe the storm, the more energy's produced, and will keep the shield running."

Cam rubbed at her temples, getting a headache from having to turn her attention between the two men.

"It's an ingenious plan, really," Zelenka commented absently.

"I'm inclined to agree," Rodney muttered.

"The only downside is we have no way of storing all that energy."

"Ah, once the storm stops, the lightning stops striking…"

"Yeah, we have no way of charging up the generator."

"And we're back to square one." Rodney crossed his arms as he looked down towards the Gateroom.

"So, the city would survive?" Elizabeth asked.

"Mmmm," Rodney answered. "It might give us a better than ninety percent –"

"Seventy," Zelenka corrected.

"– eighty percent chance," Rodney compromised.

Elizabeth nodded. "Okay, so we should still evacuate," she commented.

Cam looked at Elizabeth. "Give me a few minutes," she said. "I'll be ready to help when I stay behind."

Elizabeth nodded as Cam stood up and hurried out of the room.

A-A-A-A-A-A

**GENII HOMEWORLD**

Cam sighed as she leaned against the railing that over looked the Gateroom, wearing her desert Tok'ra uniform. The last group of people were leaving, carrying various pieces of equipment that would be needed offworld. She let one hand move to the hilt of one of the daggers she had strapped to her belt. Her berretta was in her leg holster while her Zat gun was in the small of her back. She heard Sheppard standing next to her, leaning against the pillar behind him as he also looked out on the people leaving.

"Where's your brother?" he asked her suddenly.

Cam looked over her shoulder at the Major. "He was amoung the first to be evacuated," she answered. "As far as he knows, I'm coming through with this group."

Sheppard smirked slightly at her. "You know how to trick him into believing something like that," he complimented her.

Cam chuckled lightly. "When you have over two thousand years of information on stealth and spying," she began lightly, "you learn quickly how to trick someone." She looked back at the Gateroom as the last of the group left and the Gate shut down. "Even when the other person you're tricking also knows the same tricks."

She heard the guards come up behind Sheppard, even as Rodney walked over. "That's everybody," he said. "We've got… uh…" He consulted his watch, "just over four and half hours until the storm hits." He gestured over his shoulder. "Let's get down to the labs."

Cam nodded as she stood up and moved passed Sheppard and the guards, following after Rodney and Elizabeth. She heard Sheppard speaking to the guards for a moment before he followed. She smirked slightly as she heard him jog to catch up before he slowed to a walk next to her.

"You were saying?" he invited.

Cam let her smirk widen. "I said all that I was going to say Sheppard," she told him. "I just hope that there is no one around when he discovers that I have not joined him."

Sheppard winced at that. "I seem to remember how volatile Martouf can be when people he cares about are threatened," he agreed. "I can only imagine how he's feeling."

Cam winced. "I guess I deserved that," she admitted. "I really do hope no one's near him. I really do. Last time something like this vaguely happened, several people had a few broken or dislocated bones." She looked at Sheppard. "I was only missing for ten minutes."

Sheppard winced again. "Remind me never to get on your brother's wrong side," he commented as they stepped into the nearest transporter.

Cam nodded as Sheppard touched the screen for the transporter near Rodney's lab. She couldn't help but front as she realised the other two had gone on ahead of them.

"Don't worry," she agreed before the transporter activated. "You'd have to either be a System Lord or, currently, a Wraith."

Sheppard nodded as they stepped out of the transporter and walked towards the nearby lab. "Where's your Staff weapon?" he asked her curiously.

Cam smiled at him. "In Rodney's lab," she answered. "I put it there while I waited for Marty to leave Atlantis."

"Oh this is just great!" they heard Rodney exclaim. "Who put this thing here?! It's supposed to be in the armoury!"

Cam laughed as both she and Sheppard stepped into the lab, seeing the Canadian holding her Staff weapon in his inexperienced hands. "I put it there Rodney," she said as she deftly flipped it out of his hands and into her own. "I put it there while I was waiting for the first couple of groups to leave."

Rodney muttered under his breath before he turned to his laptop. Cam shared a small smile with Sheppard as she carefully swung her Staff weapon into the sheath on her back before she moved to the other laptop in the room.

**_Let's get some translations done before we do anything, _**Kel'an said as Cam tapped away on the machine, activating a translation program the Tok'ra had uploaded onto the Atlantis network system.

"There are dozens, possibly hundreds of lightning rods placed strategically around the city," Rodney commented a few minutes later.

"Wait a second," Sheppard said and Cam looked over her shoulder to where he stood opposite Elizabeth by two microscopes.

"What?" Rodney asked as he stood up from his laptop.

"Why?" Sheppard asked.

"Why what?"

"Why are there hundreds of lightning rods placed around the city?" Sheppard asked him. "Wouldn't the shield protect against lightning?"

Cam nodded. "Ideally the shield would," she agreed with him. "But with the shield running all the time, there is only one thing it is good for. Draining power." She raised her hands in a futile gesture. "Do not blame me," she said when Sheppard an Elizabeth looked at her. "Blame the Ancients."

Sheppard snorted. "Right," he said, agreeing with what Cam had said. "I'll blame the long dead Ancients."

"You're aware that there's a time element to what we're doing here, right?" Rodney asked.

Sheppard nodded. "Yes," he answered. "It's been brought to my attention."

Rodney nodded and moved over to the large screen in the room. Cam shut the lid on her laptop and moved over, taking in the diagram.

"Like I was saying," he said. "There are lightning rods – a lot of them – placed all over the city." He gestured to the number of small lights on the screen. "Now – as it stands right now – all the energy they capture is routed into four main grounding stations." The lights disappeared and four blue ones appeared; two close to the main tower, the other two a lot further away. "In turn the stations ground all that energy into the ocean below."

Sheppard nodded as he looked at the screen before he looked at Rodney. "So, instead of sending all that energy to ground…" he began.

"… we use it to power the shield," Rodney finished.

"How?" Elizabeth asked.

"By directing it right down the corridors of Atlantis and into the shield generators," Rodney told her.

"The city can handle that?"

Cam nodded from beside Rodney. "Yes," she answered.

"Theoretically," Rodney put in.

Sheppard looked at them both, confused. "Like dinosaurs turned into birds theoretically, or theory of relativity theoretically?" he asked.

"What?!" Rodney asked him before he understood. "Uh… sort of between." Cam frowned and looked at Sheppard, seeing that he didn't know what he meant. "Elizabeth, you take grounding station two." He gestured to one of the blue lights close to the tower. "I'll take grounding station one." He gestured to the other one close to the tower. "Major, you take three and Cam, you can take four."

Cam raised an eyebrow at him. "You are expecting the two of us to go to the two stations farthest from the tower?" she asked.

"Three's here." Rodney pointed to the one of the left side before pointing to the right. "That's four. I need to get done quickly so I can start working on the subroutines and Elizabeth was complaining about her knee the other day."

Cam looked at the only other woman in the room. "You should have told me," she said. "I could have healed it and you'd be joining me on the run to four."

"Wait a second," Sheppard said. "Are these things even close to a transporter?"

"Uh, yes," Rodney began. "Elizabeth's is." He cleared his throat uncomfortable. "And so is mine. Yours aren't."

Cam looked at Sheppard. "Ready for a few mile run Major?" she asked him politely. "Goodness knows you need the exercise."

Sheppard looked at her curiously. "Are you saying I'm fat?" he asked her.

Cam shook her head as she raised her hands in surrender. "I'm not saying anything Major," she answered. "I'm not going to let you put things in my mouth."

Rodney shook his head as he looked at the two of them. "You need to radio in once you've gotten to your station," he told them, interrupting.

Cam nodded. "Alright," Sheppard said. "Let's do it."

He smiled slightly at Cam and gestured for her to proceed before him. The Tok'ra frowned suspiciously as she stepped in front of him, walking out of the lab as she rested a hand on one of her daggers.

"Remember: you need to radio in once you've got to your first station!" Rodney hollered after them before he and Elizabeth walked one way.

Cam shook her head and looked at Sheppard as they moved to the nearest transporter. "Are you planning anything Major?" she asked him.

Sheppard looked back at her speculatively. "Maybe," he answered as they stopped outside the transporter. "Maybe not." They both stepped inside the transporter before Sheppard tapped the transporter for his grounding station. "Was your comment really necessary?" There was a flash of light as they arrived at the other transporter.

Cam shrugged as Sheppard stepped out again. "Not really," she admitted as she raised her hand to the screen behind her. "Just trying to alleviate the stress."

Sheppard nodded at that. "See you back at McKay's lab," he told her before she touched the screen and the doors closed on him, letting her disappear.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam was nearly at her grounding station when her radio came alive. She stopped her running, allowing Kel'an to stop her adrenaline from burning through her veins, as she tapped her radio.

_"Major, Camilla, apparently there's wounded incoming,"_ Elizabeth spoke.

Cam frowned. _"Doesn't make any sense,"_ Sheppard said.

Cam nodded in agreement. Something didn't sit well with her about that.

"Did they say it was Wraith-related?" she asked. "Anything related at all?"

_"We'll ask them ourselves in a second,"_ Elizabeth said. _"Hold on."_ Elizabeth went quiet and Cam frowned as she heard the woman walking before stopping suddenly. _"What the hell is going on?!"_

Cam stayed still as she heard the sound of a short scuffle. "Elizabeth, are you alright?" she asked when the scuffle had died down.

_"Dr. Elizabeth Weir,"_ a man spoke.

_"Yes,"_ Cam heard the expedition leader answer, both to the man and to the Tok'ra.

_"And you must be Dr. McKay,"_ the man continued.

Rodney didn't answer, but a woman did. _"That is him,"_ she said.

_"Where is Major Sheppard?"_ the man asked. _"I would like to know the whereabouts of Major Sheppard."_

_"You seem to know a lot about us,"_ Elizabeth commented calmly. _"Who are you?"_

_"They're Genii,"_ Rodney answered for her and Cam felt her entire body turn cold.

_"Carter, channel two,"_ Sheppard ordered sharply.

Cam nodded as she pulled her radio out and changed the radio channels, disconnecting herself from the others. "Done," she answered as she turned around and ran back towards the transporter. "Where are you?!"

_Give me as much as you can Kel'!_

**_Already on it,_**Kel'an answered as Cam felt a new burst of energy enter her and she picked up the pace.

_"Heading to the Jumper bay,"_ he answered. _"You?"_

Cam continued to run, bounding around a corner. "Heading back towards the tower," she told him as she entered an all out run. "From there? Where do you need me?"

_"Head to the armoury,"_ Sheppard replied after a moment. _"Get all the weaponry you can carry without weighing yourself down."_

Cam nodded and smiled slightly when she saw the transporter at the end of the very long corridor. "Give me a minute," she said. "I'll be there."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam crouched down warily in the armoury as she packed a bag with ammunition for both the berretta and the P-90 she and Sheppard carried. **_We'll hide these around the city,_ **Kel'an told her as the Tok'ra's host moved to another crate and removed the magazine clips for the P-90 into the other half of the bag they held.

Cam shook her head as she slipped a few of the magazines into the belt she wore, securing them before she stood up from the crate. _No,_ she disagreed. _What happens to the bullets when we fulfil Rodney's plan? Hmm?_

**_They'll go off,_**Kel'an answered before swearing. **_Damn, I thought it was a good idea._**

Cam shrugged as she picked up two of the hand-held radios and moved to a corner where she could keep an eye on the door while not being readily visible to anyone who came in. _It is, if you take out the lightning moving down the corridors,_ she told her as she pried open the back of one of the radios and started to fiddle with it.

**_"Elizabeth, just give him what he needs,"_**Rodney's voice broke through the silence around them a few minutes later. **_"He needs the C4, the medical supplies and the Wraith data device – just give them to him. None of that's worth dying for."_**

Cam smiled as someone else spoke and the transmission cut out. _Good boy Rodney,_ she commented as she returned her attention to the radio in front of her.

**_He's learned something after all,_**Kel'an agreed, even as the earpiece sparked for a moment.

_"You hear that Carter?"_ Sheppard asked.

Cam smirked as she closed the back of the radio and moved onto the other one. "Oh yeah," she replied. "Give me a minute here, and I'll have the explosives sorted."

_"Good,"_ Sheppard answered. _"I'll be there soon enough."_

Cam nodded and quickened her pace with the re-wiring. "See ya," she said before she heard him switch his radio off.

**_Time to grab the heavy militia,_**Kel'an commented.

By the time Sheppard had entered the armoury, the C4 had been separated into three other bags while Cam had packed several smoke grenades as well as their explosive cousins. "'Bout time you got here," Cam told him as she handed him one bag with the C4 in it. "I was wondering if you'd gotten lost."

Sheppard slung the bag over his shoulders as he picked up a couple of weapons. "You shoot to kill?" he asked as he checked his P-90.

Cam shrugged at him and winced slightly as he turned slightly to glare at her. "I can shoot to kill," she told him. "Only if they move to attack." She lifted the one radio she had rewired. "I can't kill them if they're just stood there, waiting for the sun to shine." She held the radio out to him.

Sheppard nodded as he took it from her. "Thanks," he said as he took in the sight of the replaced backing of the radio. "Where's the other?"

Cam jerked a thumb over her shoulder to where the other stood inside an empty box. "Right there," she said before she looked at her watch. "Should we be leaving soon?"

Sheppard nodded, even as he grabbed a small bag and began to fill it with various types of grenades. Cam smirked and joined him, filling her own bag.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Rodney whimpered slightly at the pain in his arm as Elizabeth carefully examined the slash marks in the long sleeve near his hand. He was slightly glad that Kolya was away from him, along with the dagger. He tried to ignore the blood that covered the lower sleeve and focused on what Elizabeth was saying.

"What did they do to you?" she asked quietly as he whimpered again.

"I tried to keep my mouth shut," he told her quietly. "I tried – I just couldn't ke…" He trailed off as Kolya approached and held up a radio.

"What's the meaning of this?" he asked.

Elizabeth shrugged at him. "I honestly have no idea," she told him.

"It's a radio," Rodney told him, seeing the dagger strapped in a holster at the Genii's waist. "The arrow points to the 'talk' button." Rodney really didn't want to be anywhere near that dagger ever again.

He watched as Kolya cautiously pressed the button before moving it to his mouth. "This is Commander Kolya," he spoke.

_"Kolya – that's a hard name to pronounce,"_ Sheppard's voice came over the radio. _"Is that a first name?"_ Part of Rodney wanted to smile; that was Sheppard's sense of humour. _"My name's Major John Sheppard and I have hidden the C4 where you'll never – I repeat, never – find it. When I get confirmation that the prisoners have been safely released and allowed to gate off Atlantis, I will help you find it."_

Kolya looked at Elizabeth and Rodney and smiled grudgingly. "He's good," he commented.

Elizabeth nodded. "Yes he is," she agreed. "I'd do what he says."

"Your offer is very generous, Major," Kolya spoke into the radio.

_"Yes it is."_ Rodney allowed himself a small tug at the corners of his mouth when he heard the confidence in the team leader's voice.

"However, Dr. McKay recently shared with me there's a plan in action to save the city," Kolya continued and Rodney felt slightly sick.

The Canadian hadn't wanted to break, but the pain and the threats the Genii leader had employed had done that. Self-disgust tore through him as he looked down at his feet, at anything other than at Elizabeth, not wanting to see her expression.

_"He did?!"_ Sheppard's voice held disgust and Rodney frowned slightly at the worry he could hear.

"He did," Kolya repeated. "My understanding is there is one final grounding station that needs to be de-activated. Uncouple the grounding rods at Station Four, assist with the reactivation of the shield, and you and your friends can leave here unharmed."

_Broke one of those already, Kolya,_ Rodney thought as he flexed his right hand slightly and winced at the pain that ran through his arm.

Somehow, Rodney knew the man wouldn't keep any more of his so-called promises to either Sheppard or to himself and Elizabeth.

_"Wait a minute – I thought all you wanted was C4 and a Jumper,"_ Sheppard said.

"Why raid a city when you can seize it Major?" Kolya asked him. "Atlantis will be ours or the oceans. You choose."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam shared a look with Sheppard as they both neared Station Four. "I've got a little problem with Kolya killing our men," she commented.

Sheppard nodded. "Question is: what are we going to do about it?" he asked. "If I was Kolya, I wouldn't keep my word about letting us go and either kill the two of us or take us hostage."

"But he doesn't know I'm here," Cam pointed out calmly.

The Tok'ra saw him grinning at her comment. "How high can you jump?" he asked her, nodding at a landing opposite the doorway to the Grounding Station.

She turned to look at the landing and smiled. "High enough," she answered as she carefully unclipped her Staff weapon from her back and held it out to the Major. "You mind tossing this to me as soon as I get up there?"

She felt him take it as she eyed the Ancient wall in front of them. Cam searched quickly for footholds before she leapt up the wall, climbing up the rest of the distance when she didn't quite reach the landing. She carefully pulled herself up onto the landing and turned to look at Sheppard, gesturing at him. The man chuckled and nodded, tossing up her modified Staff Weapon followed quickly by a life-signs detector. The Tok'ra frowned at that, but held them both as she nodded to Sheppard, the man moving into the room as Cam settled herself against the floor of the landing.

She took the time now, waiting for the Genii to appear, to activate her Staff weapon and aim inside the room. _Will you make sure I don't kill Sheppard with this? _Cam asked her symbiote.

She heard her friend chuckle in her mind at that. **_You have survived the years without hitting anyone dear to you, Camilla, _**her friend responded. **_But, I will make sure that your aim is true on the Genii._**

Cam rolled her eyes at that as she stayed where she was, placing a hand on the flip trigger of the weapon, ready to fire at a moment's notice as she waited for the Genii to appear perched as she was opposite the doorway to the console of Grounding Station Three. The woman kept her P-90 by her side, ready to use it in case of an emergency, as she watched Sheppard nod at her before he turned to walk into the Grounding Station. After a tense moment, Cam glanced at the life-signs detector, nodding at the sight of two more lifesigns coming closer while Sheppard moved around the console in the Grounding Station before he moved to one side, glancing through the doorway at her.

Cam nodded once at him, feeling Kel'an's grip around her spine tighten for a moment as she gave her own confirmation in a quick glow from her eyes.

**_We are both ready, _**Kel'an murmured in her mind.

The woman nodded again as she tightened her grip on the flip trigger, ready to fire when the men raised a finger to Sheppard. She smirked slightly when she saw two Genii men standing on either side of the door, trying to look in before they nodded at each other and one man raced inside, firing wildly. That was all that Cam needed to aim at the one Genii and fire on him, watching the deep, almost blood-red, beam race from her Staff weapon to the man, his body arching and seeming to dance as the energy exploded as it hit him. Smiling at the sight of the burns covering his clothes and body, Cam moved her aim quickly to the other man, only to begin cursing under her breath as he moved into the Ground Station, out of her range of fire.

It took a few seconds before she heard Sheppard's P-90 fire a short burst of rounds and Cam smiled slightly at that before she stood up on the landing, hearing a wet thud from inside the ground station. She shook her head as she picked up her Staff weapon, life-signs detector and her P-90 before she launched herself off of the landing. She rolled as soon as she landed, letting the rest of her body absorb the impact as she rolled to her feet and walked calmly into the ground station, stepping over the dead body at the doorway.

The Tok'ra chuckled at the sight of the other body before she groaned at the sight of the grounding station's console, a mess of bullet holes littering the metal cover and Cam could easily see the Ancient crystal cables inside flickering as both power and the relay failed to complete the circuit.

"Well," she said as Sheppard stood up from where he had been crouched by the body. "Unless you've got enough bullets to keep a small army back, I can't repair that."

The man snorted as he shook his head and brought out his radio, cursing under his breath as the rain and wind suddenly picked up. "Let me tell you what you did wrong here Kolya!" Sheppard shouted into the radio, trying to be heard over the sound of the suddenly poor weather. "A: you lost two of your men; B: you damaged the switch before I could separate the grounding rods, which I'm sure you're gonna get an earful from McKay for; and C: you lost all of what little credibility you had with me."

_"Do you have any idea of how big a setback that is?!" _Rodney's voice echoed through the radio angrily. _"I may not even be able to activate the shield. I mean, I can't possibly –"_ Cam felt her blood boil as a small cry that sounded vaguely strangled broke through for a moment. _"Get off of me!"_

_"You killed two of my men,"_ Kolya spoke.

Cam smiled slightly at Sheppard, trying to ease the pain that she could see from the sound of Rodney's pain and he chuckled at Kolya's comment. "We're even, Kolya," the Major spoke. "But, half of the credit goes to my partner, she took out one of your men."

He tossed it to her and Cam smiled as she took it, activating it and lifting it close to her mouth. "Tek'ma'te, Kolya," she shouted, knowing that speaking normally into the radio would have been lost on the man. "I am Camilla Carter of the Tok'ra, I believe Cowen met my dear brother a few short weeks ago." She shook her head. "I promise you, Kolya, that if you have hurrt Dr.'s Weir or McKay, I will make you hunger for something so sweet as pain; mind you, though, imaging what is going through your mind at the loss of two of your men is giving me a lovely little glow." She nodded at Sheppard. "As the Major said, you killed two of our men, so it seems only fair that you let us kill two of yours to pay for the loss."

_"I don't like even,"_ Kolya said as the Tok'ra handed the radio back to Sheppard.

"I'm not finished yet," Sheppard said.

_"Neither am I," _Kolya snarled. _"Say goodbye to Dr. Weir."_

"The city has a self-destruct button," Sheppard threatened. "You hurt her, I'll activate it. Nobody'll get Atlantis!"

_"Even if it exists, Major, you need at least two senior personnel to activate it – and I'm about to take one of them out of the equation."_

Silence reigned then and worry and fear rolled through Cam, despite Kel'an's control. "Kolya?!" Sheppard shouted. There was no reply. "Kolya?!" There still was no reply. "I'll give you a ship! I'll fly it out of here for you myself!" There was silence and Cam recognised the reasoning behind Sheppard's pleas. "KOLYA!"

Cam moved to the nearest wall and punched it hard, ignoring the pain that tore through her hand that joined the pain in her palm. Sheppard's shouting of the Genii's name hummed in the background for the minutes that passed by.

_"Major Sheppard,"_ Kolya spoke again calmly as the radio came back to life. _"How's this for credibility? Weir is dead."_

Cam turned and looked over at Sheppard, seeing the deadly expression written there as he raised the radio. "I am going to kill you," he snarled and Cam felt a sliver of fear run down her spine, surprising her.

She'd worked with Jack O'Neill for years, seeing far too many times his Black Ops. training take over. But never, in the six years she'd worked beside him, had she ever felt the fear run down her spine that Sheppard had caused.

**_Either Major Sheppard is more hardened than we originally thought, _**Kel'an spoke quietly, **_or he received far more training than O'Neill._**

_I don't know how to feel about either of those options, Kel', _she muttered in answer. _Both are disturbing enough right now._

_"Maybe,"_ Kolya spoke. _"Stay out of my way, or McKay will join her."_

Cam growled as Kolya disconnected again. Sheppard glared out at the surrounding sea as he lowered the radio.

"No holding back," Sheppard snarled.

Cam nodded as she moved over to the closest body and removed the Genii radio from the man's pocket before moving to the other. "Agreed," she answered. "They've killed Elizabeth and so help me, they will pay!"

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam walked cautiously through the corridors on one of the piers while Sheppard walked down another corridor a building over. The Tok'ra kept looking back at her lifesigns detector. She smiled slightly as she heard the Genii finding out how to control the internal sensors though they seemed to have not expanded it further from the central tower. A sick feeling passed through her as she heard the rather noisy deaths of three Genii soldiers that had followed after the Major. She was given a shock when Sheppard told her that he had another five following him.

"Do you want me to take care of them?" she asked him as she checked her lifesigns detector.

_"I'm heading for the generator for the Control Room,"_ Sheppard told her. _"There's a central span between two buildings in front of me, Carter. Can you take them out?"_

Cam shrugged as she stopped by an open window. "Give me a few minutes," she told him before she climbed out the window onto the roof that connect the building she was in to the building that Sheppard was in. "I'm in position," she said quietly. "Move fast Major. Move fast."

_"Understood Carter,"_ he spoke before he came out of the building right beneath Cam.

The young Tok'ra let her eyes glow as Kel'an took control. She waited until all the men had started across the gangway between buildings before Kel'an surged off of the roof and attacked. Grabbing one of her daggers, she slit the throat of one of the men before moving on to one of the others. She growled loudly as the other men noticed the death and she cradled the one body to her, letting him take the shots before she lunged forwards, dropping the body at her feet, her dagger flashing as she attacked.

"Carter!" Sheppard yelled.

Kel'an shook her head as she dropped her dagger and hefted her Staff weapon. **"Go Major!" **she shouted back at him as she began to attack with the heavy end of her staff, spinning it in the familiar patterns that had been honed into her memory through several centuries of hosts. **"Do not worry about us!"**

She returned her attention to the Genii in front of her. She heard Sheppard leave after a moment before she snarled and dropped her weapon, exposing her hands.

**_Use your abilities!_**Kel'an snapped at Cam as she allowed her host control over her body.

It took only a few seconds of sudden calm before Kel'an felt the stinging in her palms as the balls of energy manifested and she used that as she began the attack on the Genii, seeing the blood flying from both her hands and her enemies.

A-A-A-A-A-A

John felt worry settle into the pit of his stomach as he left Kel'an behind to deal with the Genii that had been following him. He heard the sadly unmistakable sounds of the Genii dying by something that Kel'an held and it wasn't something she'd used before from the sound of things. He heard a report being shouted from one of the Genii before Kolya came on.

_"What the hell is happening Ladon!"_ Kolya called on their radios.

_"We had a team tracking Major Sheppard but he led them into an ambush,"_ a man reported. He had to be Ladon. _"The other Atlantean is in the same building! It is the woman that spoke earlier."_

_"Can you take her out before she kills more?"_ Kolya asked.

_"Men are already in the area."_

John picked up the pace and ran down a corridor that led to another corridor that eventually led to the room that housed the generator that powered the control room. "Kel'an, how are you doing?" he asked as he moved down the corridor.

**_"I am fine Major,"_**the Tok'ra answered him. **_"Camilla's hands are a mess as are her lower arms; I've had to put the healing to one side with the change in priorities."_**

John nodded. "I'm guessing you heard Ladon's last transmission?"

**_"Indeed, I am ready,"_**Kel'an told him and he heard her panting with breathlessness. **_"They will not survive the encounter."_**

"I'm by the main generator," John told her regretfully, wanting to turn around and help.

**_"Do not worry Major, I can handle these men easily. Take care of the generator and I will take care of the men."_**

John nodded as he moved into the generator room. He moved to the naquadah generator and stood there for a moment, looking at the sign Rodney had written: 'REALLY REALLY DANGEROUS! DON'T TOUCH. McKay.' John smirked before he pulled the control switch out.

The was a moments silence from the Genii radio._ "Commander. Major Sheppard has cut power to the control room,"_ it was a woman that spoke and Sheppard was ready to bet it was Sora, the woman had already looked angry when she'd learned about her father and John really was willing to bet she had joined to stick it to them.

_"Can you still track him or Camilla Carter?"_ Kolya asked.

_"No."_

_"Then we have no idea where they are,"_ Kolya hissed. _"Is the control room secure?"_

_"Yes, Commander,"_ Sora reported. _"May I suggest we send men to guard the remaining generators?"_

_"No, they're trying to separate us. Just close Stargate Operations and wait for reinforcements to arrive,"_ Kolya ordered.

_"Understood."_

John smirked and tapped his radio for Kel'an. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked her.

A-A-A-A-A-A

The Control Room was dark as Cam carefully stepped out from the darker shadows at the back of it. The light of the still activating Stargate gave off more than enough light for the Tok'ra to see by as she made her way to the glowing console near the front of the Control Room. She focused on the other figure, a man, standing in front of the console, watching the Stargate from his position near the small balcony as the Stargate finally connected, the familiar arch of the wormhole appearing before pulling back into the Stargate. Cam crept closer, feeling Kel'an silencing her steps as she got within striking distance of the man.

With a quick and well judged movement, Cam slipped a hand over the man's mouth, silencing the quick grunt of surprise he gave out before she struck him hard at the back of his head with her free hand. In moments, she felt the man fall limp against her body and Cam laid him carefully on the floor, taking a moment to be careful with the man as she looked out on the Gateroom from her position crouched on the floor. She winced at the sight of armed men walking through the Gate.

The Tok'ra cursed under her breath as she moved back to the console and quickly tapped in her series of commands, adding in the various codes that she knew would lock out the Genii out being able to control anything before she typed in the last command and hit the final crystal key, watching as the shield in the Stargate activated. She smiled at her work, but couldn't help her wince at the sound of the multiple thuds hitting the shield. Cam knew that the codes and command series would keep the shield up until the Stargate deactivated and would bring it back up if another, Stargate dialled the city for incoming traffic until she put in her codes to deactivate the command series.

**_Move! Now! _**Kel'an snapped in her mind.

"Turn it off Ladon!" a woman's voice called up from the Gateroom and Cam stepped back as a beam of light from a flashlight passed. "Stop them!"

With a mute curse, Cam broke into a run towards Elizabeth's office that was connected to the Control Room by the single walkway-balcony. She cursed again as one of the few guards to make it through the Gate before the shield came up started firing at her. Cam quickly drew her handgun and fired back at the soldiers as she raced across the walkway and through Elizabeth's office, stopping her fire as soon as she was in the office before she raced through the opening doors. The Tok'ra ran through the corridors, getting as far away from the Genii as she could, descending the stairs as fast as she dared.

Cam stopped a few levels down from the Gate Room and kept to the back corridors for a few more seconds before she stopped and leaned heavily against a wall before she turned slightly, letting her back rest against the wall before she slid down to sit on the floor.

_"You alright Carter?" _Sheppard's voice squawked from the radio at her hip.

The Tok'ra nodded unconsciously as she tapped her radio headset in her ear before she answered. "I'm fine," she answered. "I nearly got hit by bullets a couple of times, but I'm fine." She chuckled as she unwrapped her hands and arms, moving to rewrap the loose bandages. "I saw your handiwork," she commented idly as she tightened the bandages around her left forearm and hand.

There was a mirthless chuckle. _"At least I gave you some cover," _he answered and Cam heard the acknowledgement of her distracting him from the pain they both felt. _"You ready for the next step?"_

Cam chuckled as she ran a hand through her hair. "Are you?" she asked as the events from the day rushed in front of her before she shook her head.

She stayed where she was, focusing her attention on checking both the bandages and the blood slowly leaking from her arms in an attempt to stem the bleeding from the injuries she'd taken from Kel'an protecting her from the Genii men. It had been proven to her that her weapons skills needed improving. The cuts to her arms had come from the Genii who had managed to get passed Kel'an's guard and her own when she had been forced to take control. She looked at her sleeves and took in the sight of the red gashes and cuts in the dark Tok'ra cloth. She shook her head before Kel'an dampened the pain so she could continue wrapping her injuries.

_"Major Sheppard, I have a proposition for you," _Kolya's voice came over the Genii radio, breaking Cam's concentration.

_"Kolya, I'm having a hard time keeping up," _Sheppard spoke then. _"What's the score?"_

_"My men have informed me that only have you disabled some crucial generators, but you've stolen key components that make it impossible for them to be restored."_

_"Yeah," _Sheppard said and Cam swore she could hear a smile in his voice. _"I did that."_

_"There are two flaws in you plan."_

_"Always open to constructive criticism."_

_Yeah right Sheppard, _Cam snorted.

_"One: the assumption I would believe you'd rather destroy the city than let it all to us is childish," _Kolya began to list.

_"Doesn't sound like me," _Sheppard commented sarcastically.

_Nope, it sounds more like me, _Cam commented idly as she began to rewrap her right hand.

_"Second: if and when I determine Atlantis unsalvageable, Dr.'s Weir and McKay become obsolete," _Kolya finished.

Cam felt her heart stop for a moment as she heard Sheppard skid to a halt. _"Weir's alive?!" _Sheppard asked.

_"Dr. McKay was able to make a strong enough case for keeping her alive," _Kolya answered calmly.

_"Let me talk to her!" _Sheppard ordered.

There was a pause before the sounds of the storm came through. _"Sheppard!" _It was Elizabeth and she seemed to be shouting to be heard over the noise of the approaching storm. _"We're both here!"_

_"It's good to hear your voice," _Sheppard spoke and Cam heard the relief in his voice that she felt.

_"Yeah!"_ Elizabeth shouted. _"It's good to hear."_

_"We have less than one hour before the storm hits full force," _Kolya said, taking control. _"If the power is not returned to Grounding Station Three within the next ten minutes, Dr. Weir dies."_

_"_Again_, you mean?" _Sheppard asked him.

_"Her death will buy you another ten minutes, after which – should the power _still _be out – Dr. McKay dies," _Kolya continued as if Sheppard hadn't spoken. _"We will then leave with what we can, and the city will be destroyed."_

**_That's not enough time! _**Kel'an disagreed, the mental calculations flashing in front of Cam's eyes.

_"Well, that's not enough time!" _Sheppard shouted at him.

_"If you don't mind destroying Atlantis, stay where you are for the next twenty minutes, starting now," _Kolya told him.

Cam urged herself to her feet and started to run, heading to the transporter that was nearby. "Sheppard!" she shouted into her ear piece.

_"I'm going to the generator!" _Sheppard shouted back at her. _"Meet me there?"_

Cam nodded as she stepped into the transporter. "I'm there yesterday Major," she told him.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam moved slowly around the corner to the room that held the generator that powered the grounding station. She felt Kel'an slow her movements even further as she looked at her lifesigns detector, seeing Sheppard's inside the room in question as well as two others that were in the doorway. Cam smiled slightly as she saw Carson, Ford and Teyla walking towards the room as well. She took in the sight of the P-90's and single Wraith stunners they held and allowed Kel'an to motion for them to stop.

When they nodded back at her, she picked up her pace a bit more while forcing her Tok'ra boots to move quietly. "_You _turn around," she heard Sheppard order when she saw him and smiled over the shoulder of one of the soldiers at him.

"What?" one of the soldiers asked.

"Well, if _I _have to turn around, _you _should turn around," Sheppard told him, using simple reasoning.

Cam smirked as she pulled her Zat gun out and tapped the shoulders of the two men. She kept up her smirk as they turned around confusion on their faces.

"Hi," she said, waving her free hand at them for a moment before firing her Zat gun at them. "See ya later."

The sound of the beam arching in the air before it hit her targets soothed Cam. "What the hell took you so long?" Sheppard asked her as he turned back to the generator.

Cam chuckled as she heard the others come up behind her. "Well, there's a storm…" Ford began and Cam knew he'd heard the question.

"Just hold that thought," Sheppard told them as he bent down and put the switch back into the generator.

"You okay sir?" Ford asked after a moment.

"I'm better," Sheppard told him as he turned around. "Been worse. Shoulder's a little sore." He rolled it slightly before wincing.

Carson gestured slightly at Sheppard. "You want me to look at that?" he asked.

Sheppard shook his head. "Take a rain check there, doc," he answered.

"We should leave this area," Teyla commented and Cam nodded tiredly. "More Genii will be on their way."

"Let's do that," Cam agreed. "The effects of the Zat gun will be temporary."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam looked down from where she stood high above the balcony to the Gateroom. She felt wet, cold and highly miserable as she stood there, measuring distances from where she was, at least two or three levels above. Part of her wished she hadn't separated from Sheppard or the others

_You ready? _Cam asked Kel'an.

**_Are you? _**Kel'an retorted calmly.

Cam nodded and jumped down, being careful to do so out of the line of sight of the main window. She let Kel'an take control, bending her knees and rolling into the cover of the trees that were on the balcony. She tapped her radio after a few moments.

"Sheppard," she said. "I'm outside the Gateroom."

_"Same here Carter," _he responded. _"I'm not getting any word from Teyla or Carson. And the Gate's just activated."_

Cam muttered a curse as she risked a glance into the tower. She saw both Rodney and Elizabeth struggling against two men as they were forced out of the control room.

"Damn!" she muttered louder as she got to her feet and moved to the nearby door. "Ladon, Kolya and a small number of guards are making it towards the Gate. They've got Elizabeth and Rodney with them. Unwilling I might add."

_"Can you follow them?" _Sheppard asked her.

"I can try," she told him. "You'll have to move as soon as possible Major."

With that she opened the balcony door and slipped inside. She watched as they moved towards the Gate. Cam growled as she ran down the stairs, pulling her daggers out as she went. She moved quickly and killed them, following the training that Kel'an remembered. With Rodney free she made to free Elizabeth, only to stop as Kolya held Elizabeth against him, using her as a shield.

Cam moved in front of Rodney as she dropped her daggers, hearing the metal clattering on the floor as she picked up her P-90 and held it ready to fire on Kolya before she took a glance around the Gateroom. The other soldiers were dead and Sheppard and Ford stood on either side of her.

"You're not going anywhere!" Sheppard told him.

Cam growled low in her throat as Kolya started backing towards the Gate before Elizabeth sagged in his grasp. He continued moving, seemingly unimpeded.

"I _will _shoot you if you don't let her go!" Sheppard threatened him.

"And risk hurting Dr. Weir?" Kolya shot back at him.

They all stepped forwards and a desperate look entered Elizabeth's eyes before Kolya moved her slightly to his right. Cam looked back at her, trying to convey a look of apology at her, even as the Tok'ra quickly became aware of Sheppard smiling slightly.

Moments passed as Kolya slowly backed up before Sheppard fired once. Cam watched as Kolya cried out and dropped Elizabeth, his left shoulder snapping back before he fell the through the Gate. Elizabeth scrambled away from the Gate before she fell to her knees, physically unharmed. Cam groaned as she sank down on the steps of the Gateroom that led to the balcony, vaguely aware that Rodney was copying her, even as she reluctantly picked up her daggers and slid them back into the sheaths at her hips.

"Find Teyla and Beckett!" she heard Sheppard shout. "Make sure that's all of them." He moved over to Elizabeth and she couldn't hear what he said as she leaned back slightly.

She forced herself to her feet as Sheppard and Elizabeth moved passed her. She followed after them and smiled slightly when she saw Rodney already working at a console. Ford turned from where he stood by a wall screen.

"Wait!" he shouted. "What are you doing?!"

"I thought I'd activate the shield and save the day!" the Canadian snapped at him. "You got something else in mind?!"

"Teyla and Beckett are still out there!"

"The tracking system's down! There's a tsunami heading towards the city, Lieutenant. Two and half minutes, they're dead."

"Then _give _them two minutes!" Sheppard snapped at him.

Rodney sighed before he nodded, stopping what he was doing. Cam groaned as she leaned against a nearby wall, feeling full exhaustion rolling through her.

"You alright Carter?" Sheppard asked her.

Cam nodded. "I will be," she told him. "Let me get a few hours horizontal and I'll be good as new." Sheppard nodded at her. "Do me a favour?"

Sheppard looked at her curiously. "Oh?"

Cam smiled slightly as she nodded. "Call me Cam or Camilla, Major," she explained. "I think after everything today, I'd like that."

Sheppard looked at her for a moment. "Let me think on that." Cam nodded in understanding even as she checked her watch.

"30 seconds left," she muttered.

"There's no more time!" Rodney shouted after a few moments. "We either lose them or we lose the city!"

Cam smiled as a door nearby slid open and Teyla came in, a woman next to her as they carried a half-conscious Carson between them.

"Rodney! Go!" Elizabeth shouted.

"Going!" the Canadian shouted as he slammed a hand down on one of the controls.

"Rodney, what's happening?!" Cam asked him after a moment.

"It's working!" he replied. "It just needs to build up enough power for the shield to activate! Wait for it."

**_Ten seconds, _**Kel'an muttered. **_I'll give him ten seconds!_**

Cam shook her head and listened to the sound of power building up throughout the entire city. Rodney looked up briefly and saw Carson. He nodded slightly at him. The two muttered at each other for a moment.

_"Now!"_Rodney shouted and Cam heard the distinct sound of the shield coming up.

"Oh thank goodness!" Cam exclaimed and her knees buckled with her relief before she looked at Sheppard. "I owe you for that Sheppard," she told him honestly. "I really do. How's a four month holiday from all the paperwork sound?"

A-A-A-A-A-A

**12 HOURS PAST STORM SURGE**

Cam sighed as she stood in front of the briefing room attached to the Gateroom and watched as the rest of the Atlantis personnel returned. They all seemed relieved and Cam could understand that. Her feelings, however, were geared towards worry, wondering what her brother would say and do when he saw her. She wasn't feeling too full of energy after running around half the city, checking on things for Rodney before she managed to get five minutes to change out of her bloodied clothes. She'd absently thrown her clothes into one corner, ready to be cleaned and repaired later and now she stood on one of the balconies, exhaustion rolling through her easily.

She frowned slightly as she saw Rodney walking towards her from where he had been standing in the control room. She felt Kel' nudge her exhaustion to one side as she watched him closely, taking in any hidden injuries he wasn't willing to show – something she believed he wouldn't actually do considering his ego and its size.

"You alright?" he asked her as he leaned against the railing.

Cam nodded and smiled slightly. "My hands are healed," she told him, raising her now undamaged hands for him to see. "You?"

Rodney nodded to the dressing around his right arm. Cam looked at it and saw that it covered the sleeve of his jacket.

"Ah," she answered diplomatically before Kel' nudged her slightly, prompting her to offer help – something she was on the verge of doing without the nudge. "I can heal that for you."

Rodney frowned at her. "You'd do that?" he asked.

Cam nodded and looked back down to the Gate, wincing when she saw her brother amoung the group that had just come through. "You're a friend Rodney," she told him. "I consider you one at least and I want to help." She turned her head to look at him and saw the bruise that was blossoming up the left side of his face. "And right now I want to lay my hands on Kolya."

Rodney frowned as he looked at her. "Why?" he asked her, even as Martouf headed up the steps, carrying his small bag and Staff weapon.

"He hurt you Rodney," she told him. "I promised Kolya that he would wish for something as sweet as the feeling of pain." She looked away at the Stargate for a few moments before she looked back at Rodney. "If I was able at this time, I would go after him, Rodney, and take my time to teach him what pain really means. It seems fair to me."

Rodney shook his head. "It isn't for me," he told her. "Our relationship with the Genii is strained as it is." Cam glared at him and he shook his head. "What I'm saying is that if you kill him any further diplomatic relationship we have with them won't be in our favour. Far from it."

Cam sighed tiredly as she allowed her head to rest on her arms. "I hate it when you're right," she told him tiredly. "You know that?"

She heard Rodney chuckle lightly beside her. "It gives my ego a good glow," he admitted. "When you've talked with your brother, I'll be in my labs." Cam turned her head slightly and looked at him, confused. "You said you were going to heal me."

Cam nodded and stood up slowly. "I'll grab my healing device and meet you there Rodney," she told him as she looked passed him at her brother. "**_If_** I survive." She looked back at Rodney. "It wasn't your fault what Kolya did to you, you know?" She saw the worry and self-hatred in his eyes for a moment. "Speak to Sheppard, Rodney. I can promise you that he doesn't hate you. You did what you had to to survive." She took a breath. "Kel's done the same before. I can't say I have – never been in the situation – but I can understand why you did what you did. If I can, Sheppard will."

The Canadian nodded before he left, snatching a small piece of sandwich from a tech – nearby – who had left it unattended. Cam looked back at the Gate as she heard her brother walk closer before he stood next to her.

"You told me you would be waiting for me when I got through," he told her and Cam winced slightly at the sharp edge in his voice. "You weren't."

Cam continued to look away from him. "I had a feeling something bad was going to happen," she told him as she watched the ripples in the event horizon, counting the heads of the members that came through, a hundred at the very least.

Had there really been that many to leave?

"Atlantis is still in one piece Camilla," Martouf told her. "You had nothing to worry about."

Cam growled as she turned to look at her brother. "I did!" she snapped quietly, not wanting to startle anyone else unnecessarily. "If Major Sheppard and I hadn't been amoung the only people to stay, Atlantis would have fallen into the hands of the Genii!" She pointed to where Rodney was still visible through the crowd. The young Tok'ra could easily see the bandage there and knew Martouf would as well. "I'll be spending close to an hour healing all the injuries a Commander Kolya saw fit to inflict on Rodney!" She lifted her sleeves up, exposing her lower arms that were covered with still healing dagger marks that marred her skin. "I am still healing Martouf and there are parts of the city that will take us all a while to fix."

Martouf looked at her, astonished before he nodded. "My apologies Cam," he said. "Both Lantash and I thought that everything had gone as Dr. McKay said it would."

Cam chuckled lightly as she pulled her sleeves back down. "It did," she agreed. "It just took a little longer than we wanted to get everything done." She nodded after Rodney who disappeared from the Gateroom. "You mind if I go help a friend?"

Martouf laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Go, Cam," he told her as she turned to look at him. "Take care of yourself."

Cam nodded before she rushed towards the steps, groaning only when Sheppard intercepted her. "Hey Carter!" he called before he stepped up beside her, following her. "How did things go with Martouf?"

The young Tok'ra smiled at him. "I'm speaking with you aren't I?" she asked him before she shook her head good naturedly. "I'm going to speak to Rodney about my abilities," she lied, deciding to cover for the scientist for now. "Do you mind?" She didn't think her lie was that believable, but she hoped the Major would take the hint.

Sheppard seemed to and nodded. "Sure," he answered and slowed slightly. "If you need anything, I've still got my radio."

Cam smiled again and nodded. "If I need anything, I will," she promised. "And thanks. I owe you."

"How about that paperwork you promised me? Don't think I forgot about that!"

* * *

_"When problems beat upon you like a raging storm, search for the eye. You might not be able to avoid misfortunes, but you can find the calmest spot within them." - Richelle E. Goodrich_

* * *

Response to reviews/reviwers:

Well, two reviews… in a month? Let's get started:

**Clarabelle26: **Thank you very much for your vote, I really appreciate getting the public's view on this. However, since another pairing has been promised, I'm doing my utmost best to make Cam and John's relationship like that of either very good, very close friends or that of an almost brother-sister friendship/relationship.

**Guest: **I love that you love this! I think you've guessed that I've updated – and I plan to carry on doing so!

* * *

Okay, so I know full well that I am probably repeating myself from the last time I posted, but there's a poll going on on my profile about who you, as the reader, think Cam should get with.

I really appreciate the fact that you guys take the time to read this and I would absolutely love it if you guys dropped me a word or two about this! If I get more reviews, I promise to post a lot more regularly than I have been. I promise!

Please read, review and enjoy!


	9. Chap 8: Defiant One

Standard Disclaimer is standard. Anyone you don't recognise or research as belonging to MGM and the Stargate franchise is mine.

I do apologise for not updating sooner, but I've been working since I updated last and I haven't had a spare moment to paste this chapter. It's taken me some time to work out a pattern, or schedule, for things and I can have the next chapter out next week if everyone wants it out then.

I've gone over this multiple times and I'm really still not sure about it. But I realised I've let you all wait too long for this chapter. Please let me know what you think, I really like hearing all your opinions and I would like all of your input on this story.

* * *

I wish to remind people that there is an ongoing poll on who everyone thinks Camilla should get together with. If you go and click my penname at the top of this page, the poll is right at the top of my bio, so have a vote and I'll take a look. While I have promised at least one pairing to a reader, I will take all comments/poll votes seriously and consider how to work in a relationship – a friendship at the least – into the story.

* * *

**Chapter 8: Always The Defiant One To The Death**

There were several things that Martouf knew about his own body and its various functions: (1) he was a man (2) he was Tok'ra who was – thanks to his symbiote – in the peak of health – and would be for a long while and (3) he had recently discovered it was possible for him to get motion sick. He sat in the back of the Jumper, his head in his hands as he tried to stop wave after wave of nausea from rolling over him.

_Thanks McKay, _he muttered, remembering who was piloting the little Puddle Jumper.

From what he could hear he knew one of the other scientists was experiencing what he was and lifted his head out of his hands before looking over at Dr. Brendan Gaul – a scientist who McKay had chosen to join them – who was fanning himself with a piece of paper. "Does that seem to be actually helping?" he asked him curiously.

Gaul shrugged at him and puffed his cheeks for a moment. "It seems to," he answered.

The Tok'ra nodded even as Sheppard seemed to say something at McKay. "Ease up on the controls a little," he said.

"I'm fine," the Canadian answered calmly.

"We aren't," Martouf ground out as he pressed a hand to his stomach, trying to stop his stomach from rolling again.

"You're gonna snap the damn things off," Sheppard told McKay. "Ease off!"

"I'm just seeing what this baby can do," McKay answered.

Martouf felt faint. "Did you just say 'this baby'?" Abrams, the other scientist, asked.

"That's perfectly appropriate space pilot parlance," McKay told him.

"Try to keep the 'baby' in a straight line," Sheppard told him, even as Martouf groaned and stood up, moving slowly into the front cabin.

"I am flying in a straight line!"

After a few moments the HUD came up on the windshield and Martouf felt his stomach attempt to roll again. There was a blue line in the middle of the screen, showing the path they were supposed to be taking while a yellow one looked like a poor attempt at a sound wave.

"Definitely not so much," Martouf muttered as he leaned against the hatch between the two cabins. "Definitely not."

"Well, in space, all motion is relative," McKay commented and Martouf could only shake his head before wincing.

Gaul groaned from next to Martouf and Sheppard turned slightly to look and frowned slightly at the distinctly sickly appearance of the scientist before looking at the Tok'ra.

"Are you okay Dr. Gaul? Martouf?" he asked them.

"I-I get motion sickness," Gaul told him.

Martouf nodded slightly before regretting the movement. "And until recently, I wasn't afflicted with it," he told Sheppard. "I know who to blame in future." He allowed himself a moment to glare at the back of McKay's head.

"These things have inertial dampeners," Sheppard said as he continued to frown. "You shouldn't feel a thing."

"Well, I-I-I know we're moving," Gaul muttered. "That's enough for me."

Martouf nodded at Gaul with a muted groan as he forced himself not to listen to anything as he felt Lantash trying to overrule control to his stomach.

"Don't let go of the controls!" Sheppard snapped, bringing Martouf's attention back to what was happening.

"What?!" he asked.

"Snapping doesn't help," McKay muttered as he placed his hands back on the controls.

"This is why parents get someone else to teach their kids how to drive," Sheppard commented.

"I am both insulted and touched by that," McKay told him before everyone turned silent at the sight in front of them.

**_Oh my! _**Lantash exclaimed.

Martouf could only weakly nodded as he took in the sight of the ornate-looking satellite that came into view. The simple structure of it all told the Tok'ra it was Ancient in construction. That and the fact that the sheer size of it made him feel small; only a small portion of the satellite was being shown through the windshield.

"McKay," Sheppard muttered.

Martouf barely registered the fact that McKay had given up the controls and now Sheppard was in control as he fought to bring his stomach out of the nausea. "Holding station at one thousand metres," Sheppard said as he easily moved the Jumper closer.

Martouf sighed with relief as the nausea seemed to abate slightly.

"Almost half a mile away and it's filling the windshield," McKay commented as he sat in the co-pilot's seat that Sheppard had vacated to take control of the Jumper. "This thing is enormous."

"It's as large as a Goa'uld mother-ship!" Gaul commented in awe and Martouf could only nod in agreement. "This might be the single largest weapons platform ever constructed!"

"Probably the Ancients' last line of defence before Atlantis," McKay commented, in awe.

"Any chance it's still operational?" Sheppard asked him. "Because that would be a very good thing!"

Martouf moved slightly as both Gaul and Abrams moved to a couple of displays around him and checked the readings. "You getting any energy readings?" Abrams asked Gaul.

The scientist shook his head. "Negative," he replied.

"So, it's dead," Sheppard commented.

"Well, it warrants closer scrutiny," Gaul commented "But, yeah."

"Knocked out during the Ancient's last stand?" Sheppard asked.

Martouf shrugged as he moved further into the front cabin. "It could have been," he agreed. "Or its power source could be depleted."

"Ten thousand years is a long time," McKay agreed. "We could still take a closer look."

Abrams waved a hand slightly. "Wait, wait!" he said. "I'm getting something in the ultra-low frequency range." Martouf turned his head slightly and watched as the other scientist tapped something and the sound came on through the speakers throughout the Jumper.

The Tok'ra jumped slightly when she heard a low, repeating pulsing sound. "Where's it coming from?" Martouf asked generally.

He turned to the windshield as the HUD came up at Sheppard's mental question. "The planet," Abrams answered as they looked at the map the HUD showed.

"A distress call," Rodney continued. "A Wraith distress call."

Martouf groaned at the news. "That is not good news," he commented. "Not good news at all."

A-A-A-A-A-A

John sighed as he continued to sit in the pilot's seat, his hands resting on the controls as he unconsciously kept the Jumper at a safe distance away from the satellite that easily filled the windscreen without trying. He'd patched the radio conversation from Atlantis into the speakers.

**_"Are you sure it's the Wraith?" _**Elizabeth asked him. **_"In this solar system?"_**

Rodney was sitting next to him and John caught him nodding slightly. "I know," he agreed. "Celestially speaking its right in our back yard."

"We figure the Ancient satellite shot the Wraith ship down in the final battle for Atlantis," John said, trying to be heard.

**_"And it's still putting out a signal after thousands of years?"_**

Martouf – damn! He still had to get his last name – chuckled from behind him. "It's a very weak signal Elizabeth," he said. "From a Tok'ra view: if any part of that ship is still intact, there is a wealth of information – both scientific and military – that would be invaluable in acquiring it."

**_"So what are you saying?"_**

"We have to go down and take a look," Rodney said.

**_"Oh, you have to," _**Elizabeth said back and John could easily hear the cynicism in her voice. **_"It took you almost fifteen hours to get there."_**

"All the more reason we should have a look," John reasoned. "We're already here."

"I should mention that the planet's atmosphere is extremely ionised," Gaul spoke up. "Radio communication could be difficult."

After a moment there was the sound of flesh hitting flesh and not moving. John cautiously looked over his shoulder and saw the Tok'ra on his team standing behind Gaul with one hand wrapped around his mouth, muzzling him while his other hand was wrapped around his neck, stopping him from struggling overmuch. He smiled slightly at Martouf in thanks: his need to explore was overwhelming and he worried if Elizabeth would essentially ground him.

**_"And it would take at least fifteen hours to send out any sort of rescue," _**Elizabeth commented.

"We'll be fine," Rodney said.

**_"Major?"_**

"I agree with McKay," he answered.

**_"Of course you do!" _**Elizabeth snapped slightly. **_"How could either of you resist exploring a crashed alien spaceship?!"_**

"Exactly," John said before he could stop himself.

"I assure you our interest is purely professional, Elizabeth," Rodney assured her.

"Seriously, the amount of intel we could gather from their weapons system – codes, shields…" John backed him up before starting a list of possible rewards from scouting out the Hive ship.

**_"Alright," _**Elizabeth finally agreed. **_"Proceed with extreme caution, please, and check in with me in three hours."_**

"Three hours is hardly enough time-" Rodney began to protest.

"Will do!" John said loudly, both interrupting and drowning out what the Canadian had been saying. "Jumper One out!"

After making sure that the radio connection was cut off he turned to glare at Rodney for a moment before settling it on Gaul who seemed to whither in Martouf's grip before he let go of him, moving slowly so that the scientist wouldn't misinterpret his motions.

"Shall we Major?" Martouf asked him.

A-A-A-A-A-A

The Tok'ra smiled as he stood outside the Jumper, wearing his desert uniform as he leaned against his Staff weapon. In his own mind, it had been too long since he had been on a desert planet that he could enjoy. He did have to admit that the tactical vest he wore was a bit of overkill in his book as it destroyed the camouflage look the clothing had been designed for.

Martouf took a deep breath of the dry air and smiled again, even as he heard McKay muttering angrily under his breath as he rubbed sunscreen on his lips. He shook his head, remembering Camilla telling him about her first holiday with Sam after joining the SGC's program.

"Hey, she said yes, didn't she?" Gaul asked as he stepped out of the Jumper wearing the tactical vest over the blue short-sleeved shirt all the scientists wore.

"And no thanks to you!" McKay snapped at him.

Martouf sighed as he hefted his Staff weapon slightly before he swung it over his shoulder to rest in the holster he'd shrugged on, watching as Sheppard walked out of the Jumper. He bowed his head politely at the Tau'ri before they both winced as McKay continued with his tirade.

"Alright, knock it off guys," Sheppard snapped as he checked his tactical vest. "I've spent the last fifteen hours listening to you two." He started walking then.

Martouf sighed as he started after him before he stopped and turned around, looking at the others when he realised that no one else was following. Martouf walked up to his side and looked over his shoulder.

"Are we ready?!" Sheppard asked them sarcastically. The others started walking then, picking up the pace. "Alright, let's remember where we parked." Martouf smirked slightly as Sheppard lifted one hand above his head, a click echoing through the air before the sound of the Jumper cloaking reached her ears.

A little later they were walking along what had probably been a large river's basin, scrub-like grass scattered along the ridges above them. Martouf smiled as he moved along the sand, feeling at home as he took in the sight of the rocks scattered in front of them on the 'path' of the river.

"Why didn't we just land next to the ship?" Gaul complained then.

"Just a precaution," Sheppard told him.

"Precaution for what?" Abrams asked then. "The Wraith ship crashed thousands of years ago."

Martouf snorted at that and turned to the 'green' field scientists. "No matter how long ago something may have crashed, there are always the automated defences to worry about," he told them. "This is good habit to get into. The Tok'ra lost many allies to that lack of knowledge."

"I never thought of that," Gaul admitted after a moment.

Martouf smiled easily at him before he turned back around. "Don't worry Brendan," McKay spoke then, panting slightly from behind Sheppard. "We weren't all built for fieldwork." There was a moment's pause. "Seriously, we're almost there, right?" McKay's voice had quietened then.

Martouf stopped as a single glowing light appeared from a mound in front of him, a buzzing sound accompanying the movement of the small creature. He frowned as he heard the others stopping behind him. McKay stayed right behind him while the others moved around him to get a better look.

"Oh," McKay commented nervously. "What's that?"

"Is it a space bug?" Gaul asked from Martouf's right.

"A space bug," Sheppard answered sarcastically as he reached for his P-90 from Martouf's left.

The Tok'ra heard a slight rustling from just to his right, between him and Gaul. "It's giving off a pretty strong lifesigns reading," Abrams answered after a moment.

"Uh, okay," McKay muttered. "Did I mention how allergic I was to bee stings?"

Martouf rolled his eyes slightly. **_The good Dr. seems to be allergic to a large number of things, _**Lantash commented.

"Maybe he smells the food," Sheppard commented.

Martouf felt McKay flinch back slightly behind him. "Maybe he's just smelling the girlish fear," Gaul commented.

Martouf snarled slightly at the man when he heard him chuckle at McKay's discomfort. "If we leave it be, maybe it will leave us be," he said.

"Right," McKay agreed from behind him as he moved around the mound.

A-A-A-A-A-A

There were times that Cam hated her official designation of 'Ancient Translator'. It just so happened that today was one of them; the small office she had eventually managed to find in the central tower was sparsely decorated and all available flat surfaces had been covered with translations. Well, that was to Cam's opinion: she had no new desks, making do with what the Ancients had left in the room, and all the walls were the same bluish-grey hue with a window at the end of the room – only eight feet from the typical Ancient doorway. The sun shining in through the ornate window seemed to mock the Tok'ra as she rubbed her face, groaning as she felt the fleeting feeling of exhaustion that warned her she'd been awake for more than 24 hours. The feeling disappeared as she felt Kel'an put it to one side. For now.

_Too many translations to do, _Cam groaned. _And I know I haven't put in a whole 28 hour day._

**_You need to get others to help you, _**Kel'an observed, taking in the sight of the many spare tablets and scraps of paper that held pieces of Ancient from all around the currently explored city, and more were due in the morning. **_You can't take it all for much longer!_**

Cam nodded and continued to translate the tablet in front of her that Rodney had given her close to fifteen hours ago before he'd left on a mission with the others. _I know that, _she agreed. _I could really do with Danny being here! Latin might not have been her third or fourth language, but she picked Ancient up eventually and she could give rough translations! _The blonde chuckled weakly as she remembered her years in the SGC. _Mai'tac Kel', I'd be happy with Jonas!_

Kel'an gently nudged her, not wanting to take over, more like a reminder. **_Talk to Dr. Weir then, _**she said. **_You may not get who you want, but you'll get people you need._**

Cam nodded as she lowered the tablet's pen and raised her left hand to tap the radio headset she wore, only to start when it activated on its own, Elizabeth's voice coming through.

_"Camilla, can you come up to my office?" _she asked.

Cam nodded, still surprised before she spoke. "Yeah, Elizabeth," she answered. "I'll be there. I need to speak with you about something though."

A-A-A-A-A-A

It didn't take long for the Tok'ra to jog up the stairs in the Control Room before slowing and walking into Elizabeth's office, noting that Ford was only a few seconds behind her. Cam nodded as she stood to one side of the room, allowing Ford to take precedence. Elizabeth turned from where she had been looking out on the Gateroom below nodded at them both, lowering the small PDA in her hands before she looked at Ford.

"Lieutenant, I'd like you to put a team on standby for a rescue mission," she said and Cam felt worry automatically settle into the pit of her stomach.

"Is the Major alright?" Ford asked, voicing her concerns.

Elizabeth nodded and sighed. "I'm sure he's just fine," she answered and Cam felt the worry dissipate a little. "I'd just like to have a team ready."

That seemed to relax the young man as his shoulders slumped a little. "So, just in case?" he asked carefully.

Elizabeth nodded again. "Yeah," she said. "Just in case."

Ford nodded. "Yes ma'am," he responded before he started to leave.

Cam sent a quick look to the older woman before she followed after Ford and touched his shoulder, stopping him. "Lieutenant?" she asked. "I'd like to be on that team."

Ford seemed to look at her. "You can't go running to help your brother every time something like this happens," he told her quietly.

Cam nodded at that as they stood on the bridge/balcony of sorts that connected Elizabeth's office to the Control Room. "I know," she answered. "But Martouf is the only family that I have here, that I can trust implicitly with my life." She sighed tiredly. "I do not wish to be prepared because of my brother, but because I feel that I can be of service as a healer."

Ford nodded then. "Consider yourself on active duty," he told her.

Cam nodded before he turned and carried on walking. She took a breath before she turned back to Elizabeth's office and walked inside, intent on making her opinion on the workload clear. She hoped she wasn't signing her own death warrant asking something so big from a woman already stressed.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Martouf sighed as he reached the top of a hill and smiled slightly at the side of the crashed Wraith ship at the bottom – a good few yards away. He chuckled slightly when he heard the others coming up behind him.

_My, aren't they slow, _he commented.

**_They do not have me or Kel'an to increase their muscle strength and stamina, _**Lantash commented.

"Have you ever seen one like this before?" Abrams asked them.

Sheppard stood on Martouf's left as he lifted a pair of binoculars up to his face. "It's too small to be a hive ship," he answered.

"Well, it's been here for a long time," McKay answered, panting slightly from where he stood behind Martouf. "Maybe they've discontinued that model."

"Maybe," Martouf agreed with him. "Whatever the ship is, it took a very good hit."

"Score one for the Ancient satellite," Gaul commented.

Martouf frowned when Sheppard moved the binoculars around for a moment and Martouf closed his eyes. **_On it! _**Lantash answered when he recognised his host's wish.

The Tok'ra opened his eyes a moment later and followed – roughly – Sheppard's line of sight. He winced slightly as he saw several skeletons lying around near the ship. Despite his hundred years as a Tok'ra host combined with Lantash's millennia knowledge of death, part of him couldn't stomach the sight of the dead, recently or not.

"There appear to be several skeletons outside of the ship," he commented as he closed his eyes and shook his head, removing the improved eyesight.

"I guess everyone didn't die in the crash," Sheppard said grimly as he put the binoculars down. "You getting any lifesigns?" he asked McKay.

There was a quiet rustling from behind the Tok'ra. "I think we can rule that out," the Canadian snarled.

"It is merely a precaution Dr. McKay," Martouf told him carefully.

McKay sighed after a moment and the rustling appeared again before the sound of Velcro being ripped followed it. "Fine," he said, a quiet beeping filling the air for a moment. "No, it's just us and the glowy bugs." The beeping stopped. "There's nothing coming from the ship."

Martouf saw Sheppard nod before he carefully began to descend the sandy hill they stood in. "Good," he called to them as he began to slide with the inexperience that Martouf found amusing amoung the Tau'ri. "Let's go take a look."

Martouf smiled and shook his head, glad to distract himself from the bodies he had seen as he easily slid down the dune. He watched as Sheppard landed in a small heap as he descended and easily landed on the balls of his feet. His smile widened slightly as he heard Sheppard mutter something to the effect of 'perfect Tok'ra skills, can't he make a mistake once in a while!'

A-A-A-A-A-A

It hadn't taken them long to get to the crashed ship and find a large enough entrance to climb through. John crouched carefully as he looked inside, hearing the others doing the same in the sand outside, as he searched his tac-vest for his torch with his free hand. A slightly annoying beeping came from behind him for a few moments.

"I'm picking up faint power readings," Rodney told him as he clipped his torch to the business end of his P-90, thankful that a clasp had been made for it before they'd left Earth.

"There would have to be something to power the distress beacon," Martouf commented from behind the Canadian.

Another two white lights joined John's and he took a moment to look around before he crawled inside and stood up, cautiously moving deeper into the Wraith ship. He vaguely registered Gaul and Abrams speaking near the entrance before they caught up. John settled his P-90 into the familiar position against his shoulder as he walked through the cobwebbed hallways.

_And here I thought spiders were creatures only on Earth, _he thought as he used the end of his P-90 to pass through one.

It wasn't long after wandering through the halls that they came across a mummified-looking corpse of a Wraith sitting up against a wall. The spiders seemed to have covered him in relatively short time with the webbing seeming to cover every part of him, even the face guard that John had already come to associate with the Wraith that weren't as chatty as the others. Four torch lights focused on it, giving John a slightly better view of the Wraith.

"This guy looks like he just lay there and died," he commented as they stayed a few feet away from the Wraith; just in case.

"It's remarkably preserved," Rodney agreed, a tone of awe clear in his voice.

"Or it might be that his death was not that long ago," Martouf commented and John felt a little worried at that.

The Major reluctantly nodded at that. "Alright, Beckett will want samples," he said as he moved closer, hearing Rodney following him, before he crouched down.

Rodney crouched down on his other side and motioned to the corpse. "It is, uh…?" he asked and John couldn't help shooting him a look. Rodney nodded. "Yeah." The lead scientist gave him a grim grin. "Okay." He reached out to the corpse and brushed aside the cobwebs over the chest and froze. "What the-?!"

John leaned closer to the Wraith, taking in the sight of the Wraith hand tear in the shirt. John shuddered as he remembered – vaguely – the wound on Colonel Sumner's chest after he'd killed him. He stopped the thought there before it went any further. He took a closer look and he shuddered again.

"Okay," he admitted after a moment. "This is different."

Rodney looked at him. "Wraith cannibalism?" he asked.

John shrugged. "Looks like it," he said.

"They feed off each other?" Martouf asked as he stepped closer.

John shrugged again. "Probably as a last resort," he mused.

"I guess some of them tried to survive as long as possible," Abrams commented from somewhere behind Martouf.

Rodney shuddered slightly and John had to agree with the sentiment. "Okay, that is incredibly disturbing," he commented with a grimace.

John continued to look at the dead Wraith with morbid fascination. "No kidding," he agreed before he paused and thought. "You know… I wonder if there's –"

"GUYS!" Gaul's voice cut off his question and John sighed as he shared a look with Rodney.

They nodded before they stood and attempted to find Rodney's wayward scientist. As they searched, John watched as Martouf took the lead, searching with ease before he nodded and stepped into one room. John absently appraised the large chamber before he saw the capsules in the walls, everywhere. He turned his flash on them, gaining – sadly – a better look at them.

"They're bodies! Human bodies!" Gaul commented with a hint of revulsion.

John nodded, remembering the Hive ship that he'd 'visited' with the Genii a few months before. "They have chambers like this on Hive ships," he said as he looked around, his mind absently counting the capsules. "I've never seen one so large before."

Gaul looked at him and frowned. "I don't understand," he said.

John opened his mouth to answer the scientist's question. Rodney beat him to it as he answered, "The Wraith cocoon humans, keep them in suspended animation, so later they can…" John gave the Canadian points for getting that far before becoming unwilling to say what happened next – not that he'd be able to get any further. "Yeah."

John nodded as he took one last look around. "I think we just figured out what this ship is for," he said.

"It seems that it was a supply ship," Martouf agreed from his left.

"Probably on its way to feed the Wraith when there were laying siege to Atlantis," Rodney completed.

"Well," Gaul said. "That's terrifying."

John nodded at that. "Gaul, Abrams, check it out," he said, remembering why they had originally come to the ship for. "But be careful."

He'd just begun to turn to leave when his order seemed to make sense to Gaul. "What? No, wait!" he snapped.

"Where are you going?" Abrams asked, sounding more in control than his friend.

John turned to look at them. "Well, the ship's gotta have a bridge," he said. "Maybe we can get some useful intel."

Gaul stared at him, in shock. "So you're just leaving us here!?"

Rodney looked at the young scientist. "What's the problem?" he asked. "They're all dead."

Gaul turned on him. "That's the problem!"

John looked at him. "Just get some DV and a rough head count," he said. "We'll stay in radio contact."

"That could be difficult. This part of the ship seems really shielded."

John took a breath, stopping himself from answering with a McKay worthy retort. "Weir only gave us a few hours," he said instead, staying remarkably calm. "We'll check in every few minutes."

He made to leave then, heading out the door. He looked to his left, then right before he nodded and turned right, hearing Martouf and Rodney joining him.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Martouf walked in front of Sheppard and McKay, his Staff weapon slung across his back as he held a Tau'ri torch in one hand, letting the light shine in front of him. The Tok'ra had taken time to note the sand or dust that had settled on almost every available surface while cobwebs decorated every high corner and every other viable place an insect might crawl. He shook his head as he moved at a slow pace, listening to Sheppard and McKay speaking behind him.

"I'm not picking up anything in the EM spectrum," McKay commented after a short burst of beeping came from the L.S.D [AN: Life Signs Detector]. "I may need to rig up a secondary power source so we can interface with their computer systems."

There was a pause for a moment. "I'm just thinking out loud here," Sheppard said eventually, his own torch beam crossing with Martouf's as his voice drifted off.

"What?" McKay asked.

"How long do you think the Wraith could feed on all those humans back there?"

"The Wraith are capable of hibernating for hundreds of years at a time," Martouf called over his shoulder as he rounded a corner.

"But if you think about it, ten thousand years ago was roughly the dawn of human civilization," McKay continued.

"So there's no chance that, uh…" Sheppard began before he trailed off again.

There was an intake of breath as Martouf halted for a moment at the thought. "No, no, no, no. Are you kidding?" McKay asked before he paused. "Well… maybe." The other two came to a stop then.

"Dr. McKay," Martouf ground out.

"No." Martouf sighed in relief as he started walking. "No. No living thing could survive that long under those conditions. It's ridiculous!"

"Okay," Sheppard said a moment later and Martouf heard the two walking again.

"It would require an incredible power source capable of sustaining those poor humans in suspended animation almost the entire time," McKay continued after a moment.

Martouf stopped again, turned around and walked back to them. The two Tau'ri had stopped and Sheppard was looking at the scientist in worry. Martouf lowered his torch as he stopped in front of the two.

"So it's possible?" the Major asked.

The flushed cheeks of McKay paled. "Oh my god, it is possible!" he said after a moment before he lifted his torch and shone it around nervously, the beam shaking. "We've gotta get out of here!"

Sheppard nodded as he tapped his radio. "Gaul, Abrams, this is Sheppard," he said.

There was a pause before a startled voice spoke. _"Major, are you trying to scare me to death?!" _Gaul asked.

Sheppard rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry if we're being a little over cautious but we should probably get back to the Jumper," he answered.

_"M… say again, your r…'s breaking up!" _Gaul answered, his comment broken up by the static.

Martouf watched as Sheppard shook his head. "Let's fall back to our point of ingress," he said. "We're headed back to the Jumper."

There was a short pause before Gail's panic-stricken voice answered. _"Major, I just saw something!" _he snapped.

Martouf nodded and moved around the two Tau'ri in front of him, heading back along the path towards where they had left the two scientists. "Alright, stay put!" he heard Sheppard order them. "We're coming back to you."

_"Understood."_

A-A-A-A-A-A

John crouched down in front of Abrams' body. He still felt remorse from Colonel Sumner's death. He still regretted killing his superior-

Shaking his head slightly to dismiss the though, John focused on Abrams. He knew Rodney was checking the pulse of the now dead man, looking far more than his year, long, grey hair and wrinkled skin in the place of the short hair and youthful skin that had been there.

"He's dead," Rodney confirmed sadly.

Gaul was still missing, gone. "Where's Gaul?" he asked the scientist.

The pilot was well aware of Martouf standing nearby, weapons held at the ready in case a Wraith came back for Abrams' body.

"I don't know," the Canadian answered.

John nodded and picked his radio up. "Gaul, this is Sheppard," he said. "Come in."

There wasn't a response and John bit back a sigh. "The Wraith will have taken him," Martouf said quietly.

Drawing out his lifesigns detector, John looked at the screen, well aware that Rodney held a gun at the ready. "You're right," he told Martouf, seeing two other lifesigns going away from them. "They're on the move."

He slipped the detector away and moved quickly, patting Abrams' body down, pulling out all the weapons he could find on the scientist's cropse.

"What are you doing?" Rodney asked him.

"Taking his weapons and ammo," he said before he held the gun out to the scientist. "Here."

Rodney took it automatically. "I already have a gun," he said quietly.

"Now you have two, Dr.," Martouf told him.

Rodney's face seemed to pale at a sudden thought. "You're not planning on going after the Wraith?!" he asked.

John snorted and shook his head, checking his ammo clip for a moment, well aware that Martouf was checking his own weapons. "I'm planning on going after Gaul," e corrected the scientist. "Then I plan on getting the hell outta here."

The Canadian reached out as he made to stand up, grasping his forearm. "I swear there was nothing alive when I scanned for lifesigns," he said.

John patted his hand as he pulled the man to his own feet as he got up. "They don't show up as lifesigns when they're hibernating," he reminded the man.

The Ancients had obviously not found anything to counteract that little hiccup in technology, but it meant that John would have his men armed and ready in future when entering a Hive devoid of life signs. Shaking his head as he took the safety off of his P-90, John looked at both men.

"Okay," he said. "Let's go."

He moved along the path of the lifesigns detector and paused at the dead Wraith he'd found earlier and crouched down, rummaging as quickly as he could through the remains of the clothing. John frowned at the sight of an egg-shaped object, but pocketed it quickly.

"What's that?" Rodney asked.

John shrugged as he pulled another out. "I don't know, but I don't have the ordnance I should have," he answered. "It takes a lot to kill these guys and I'll take any edge I can get."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Martouf held his Staff Weapon at the ready, his hand on the firing switch, as he raced through the corridors of the Wraith ship, following the echoing of Gaul's screams. He'd ignored Sheppard, both Lantash and himself already using his body to find the source of Gaul's screams.

Pausing at a crossroads of sorts, Martouf tilted his head, hearing the fain echo in the air. _Where is it coming from, Lantash_?he pressed his symbiote. _Where?_

Lantash made a tutting sound in his mind. **_If you would give me a moment, _**he snapped before he chortled. **_To your right. Now!_**

With reflexes honed over a century of shared existence, Martouf raced in the direction his symbiote had said, feeling his body stooping slightly as Lantash helped control his body, feeding energy to his muscles as he ran.

Stopping as he entered a chamber, Martouf froze at the sight that met him. Gaul was lying at an obviously awkward angle for a human, his dark hair now grey and his skin covered in more wrinkles than Martouf remembered the man having. But that sight wasn't what froze his feet as he heard Sheppard and McKay race in behind him.

The Wraith had left a permanent reminder of his feeding on Gaul's chest, the wound bleeding profusely through the cocoon the Wraith had wrapped him in. It took a few seconds before Sheppard moved and Martouf joined the man as McKay did the same.

"I'm sorry," Gaul whimpered. "I didn't…"

Martouf moved quickly, using his enhanced strength to tear through the thick and strong cocooning. He felt the material give easily as McKay appeared to do what he could at Gaul's feet.

"He's left the ship," Sheppard told them after a few seconds, the recognisably soft beeping of the Ancient LSD in the air.

"It killed Abrams," Gaul gasped through the obvious pain Martouf knew the man had to be doing through.

"We know," he told the man gently as he removed the last of the cocoon wrapped around the man.

There was little he could about the little that remained on his skin and clothes. The natural adhesive in the material clinging to Martouf's own hands as quickly as he tried to remove it.

"It was so fast," Gaul muttered. "It fed off of me."

Martouf grasped the man's shoulder, ignoring the cocoon coating his fingers. "Listen to me," he said firmly. "Calm down, Dr.. You are safe."

Since he had returned to Earth from the Asgard, Martouf had seen his sister having enough panic attacks to see one in the early stages.

"Can you move?" Sheppard asked firmly.

Gaul shook his head. "Nothing below my shoulders," he answered.

"I'm sure the paralysis is just temporary," McKay said. "You'll be alright in a few hours."

Gaul nodded, heaving in a gasping breath. "I told him where we left the Jumper," he managed. "He took my remote."

"He won't be able to fly it," McKay said.

"Do we know that for a fact?"Sheppard asked.

Turning slightly to look at the two men, Martouf say the Canadian roll his eyes. "I'm sure the Wraith were the main reason the Ancient technology only works is the operator has the specific gene," he said.

Martouf shook his head. "The Wraith will still have access to all of our weapons, food and water aboard the Jumper," he said.

"Who cares?" McKay asked as he looked back at him.

"What if he can use our sub-space radio to signal his friends?" Sheppard asked.

McKay's face fell slightly. "He might be able to do that," he conceded.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Aiden Ford might only have been twenty five years old and somewhat seasoned by his service in the SGC before being moved to the Arctic base, but he had never really seen the other alien races the hidden base held. Ever since arriving in Atlantis he had seen what the male Tok'ra could do, but he hadn't seen what Martouf's sister could do. The woman might be a few years his junior, but she acted with age that he doubted he would ever actually see in his own personal life.

He checked his weapon self consciously as he sat in the co-pilot's seat, knowing he couldn't really do anything to help the Tok'ra as she piloted the small ship easily. Her hands were steady and her gaze never left the starless void in front of them, her eyes locked on something he couldn't see.

"Is there something in my hair Lieutenant?" Carter asked and he saw a small smile on her face. "It is the only reason I can think you could be staring at me. Though I do wonder – if that is the case – why you haven't said anything?"

Aiden flushed slightly at the gentle reprimand. "Not really staring ma'am," he said. "More like observing."

Carter smirked. "Is that what they call it?" she teased. "Kel' tells me that her previous hosts would have called that staring." She continued to smirk as she pulled her gaze away from the void of space to look at him. "What's the real reason Ford?"

She looked back to the void, but kept glancing at him until he spoke. "I'm used to working with your brother ma'am," he said. "No offense, but I haven't really worked with you that much."

Carter smiled at him as she settled back in her chair, her hands letting go of the control sticks long enough for her to relax slightly before she grabbed them again. "That would be my fault really Ford," she told him. "I'm currently more useful for translations of Ancient that I am for fighting."

Aiden grinned at that. "I don't doubt that ma'am," he agreed. "Is there anything you've brought with you?"

The blonde haired half-alien raised an eyebrow at him in question before she smiled. "My hand device," she answered. "Healing device – I think we can both agree that the Major will be injured in some way, shape or form – and my staff weapon." She shrugged. "The bare essentials really."

Aiden nodded at that. He remembered Marines and Air Force personnel alike bringing far too much to various off-world missions than they should have. The woman beside him seemed to know that it wasn't wise without really going through it before.

"It's because of Kel'," she said, startling him. "She's why I bring the bare essentials Lieutenant, I mean." She took a breath. "What do you know of the Tok'ra?"

Aiden shrugged one shoulder slightly. "That host and symbiote share a single body willingly," he answered. "The host gains a longer lifetime and the symbiote protection. That's it really ma'am."

Carter nodded. "What you do not know is that when a host and symbiote join – blend," she began, "memories of each are shared." She sighed again. " Kel'an has all of my memories and I have all of Kel'an's memories Ford and I mean **_all _**of them."

Aiden let it sink in before he realised the full extent of what she had said. Lantash had said Kel'an was only two centuries older than himself and that 'she' had had several hosts before he had been 'spawned' and even then her host at the time had been relatively new. A quick mental calculation told him Kel'an and Lantash had to be around two thousand years old, if not a little younger. So, Kel'an had probably seen everything from innocent to the downright dirty and horrid.

"Wow," was all he said. "You've really seen everything?"

Carter nodded. "I was a host at the age of eight Ford," she said calmly. "No matter what my father and sister think, I was far from innocent at that age." She smirked. "I think I know a few things that would have the Major reaching for his smelling salts." She chuckled softly, a sound that Ford didn't recognise. "If he spoke to Kel'an, I believe the man might try and take notes."

Aiden paused before he flushed at that. He didn't continue the conversation. Not for a long while. And not for a lack of trying: as a serving man, he'd seen far too much and lived to tell about it – both on and off the battlefield – but the implications of Carter's words stunned him.

A-A-A-A-A-A

John tried to ignore the burning his arm. It didn't help that the burning meant that he couldn't really use his arm without making things worse. He took a breath and looked up over the rock he had hidden behind, his pistol held in his hands after he had fired on the Wraith. He groaned as he saw it open its eyes before standing up, the injuries healed enough for John to worry as he quickly ducked down before the alien saw him.

"You've got to be kidding me," he muttered under his breath as tried to come up with another plan.

"I've fed upon countless thousands of humans, Atlanteans, even a part of my own crew," the Wraith snarled – Joe John mentally nick named it. "And I will feed upon you before this day is done."

_Not if I can help it, _John thought as he looked up from behind his rock and fired on the Wraith as it fired at him.

He didn't know how long the exchange took, but he started slightly when he heard his radio buzz. _"Major, this is Lieutenant Ford," _the radio buzzed. _"Please respond."_

John smirked as he ducked down behind his rock, taking a quick reprieve. "Lieutenant, I like your timing," he said calmly. "Get your ass down here!"

_"Sir, we're still two-zero minutes away at top speed," _Ford answered.

John sighed. "Well, in that case, your timing sucks," he corrected. "Get here as soon as you can." He took a moment to look out over the rock. "You need me to get off this planet," he called to the Wraith. "I'm the only one that can fly that ship!"

The Wraith paused in his firing. "I will use your dead hands to operate its controls," it stated right before it started firing.

John got up slightly and returned fire, mentally cursing when he ran out of ammo. The Wraith's weapon ran out soon after and John calmly drew his knife from the sheath in his belt before he got to his feet and moved resolutely towards the Wraith. He had to take this thing out: it was the only thing standing between them all getting off of this planet. He had to fight for Rodney and Gaul.

Dear Lord he hoped he could last long enough for Ford and his team to get here quickly enough to make a difference.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam consciously reigned in her Tok'ra strength as she struggled to push the top speed of the Jumper as far as she could. The tone of Sheppard's voice had told her that he needed back up and he needed it soon, she just hoped that nothing had happened to Rodney or her brother or the other scientists. The Jumper surged passed the Ancient space station and straight towards the planet.

**_"Ford, lock onto the biggest lifesign signal you can see and fire!" _**Sheppard ordered, his voice coming through the speakers of the small ship.

Cam automatically brought up the HUD on information on the planet in front of them, even as she felt Kel' take control over her strength, forcibly reining it in. She glanced up at the HUD, seeing a large collection of lifesigns in between three others and she did a quick guess on the distances. Ford had obviously done the same.

"Negative sir," he said. "You're too close."

**_"That's an order Lieutenant!"_** Sheppard countered moments later, his voice sounding pained. **_"Do it!"_**

Cam didn't even need Ford pointing to the HUD for her to pick the target before she fired a drone. She felt the sides of the Jumper widen ever so slightly before a drone sped out in front of them, Cam ruthlessly guiding it towards the largest collection of lifesigns, barely registering the fact that Sheppard and the other lifesigns moving away from it. Meters away from the target Cam let go, knowing the drone would hit the target and she looked up at the HUD, relaxing a little.

"It's gone," she breathed.

Ford nodded and tapped his radio. "Sir," he said. "This is Ford. The target's gone."

**_"Well, it's about damn time!" _**Sheppard answered.

Teyla frowned as she stepped closer. "We got here as soon as we could, Major," she offered.

**_"That's not what I meant," _**Sheppard said. **_"Thanks."_**

Cam smiled slightly. "You're welcome, sir," she told him. "We'll be there in a few minutes."

**_"We can all wait here Carter," _**Sheppard said.

Cam sighed in relief as she relaxed her grip on the flying joysticks before she heard Sheppard disconnect. "Thank goodness," she breathed. "I may not need to do any healing."

A-A-A-A-A-A

**7 HOURS LATER**

John rolled his left shoulder, trying to get the tense muscle to loosen, even as he kept his grip loose on the joysticks. He didn't know what to feel about Gaul, but he knew he was thankful that his and Abrams' bodies were in the other Jumper – piloted by Marco. He looked over his shoulder at Martouf.

The male Tok'ra was sitting beside his sister; the two of them talking as Carter carefully wrapped an injury to the man's shoulder. Rodney sat opposite them, talking amicably with the two 'aliens' after everything he had been through. John nodded slightly at that before he looked back out at the dark expanse of space, letting his mind wander to cover the pain in his side. No matter what the Ancient database said about the Wraith, they were unnaturally strong and his ribs were currently a testament to that fact as he kept his breathing shallow yet even.

He froze as he felt a hand on his right shoulder – light but firm – before he forced himself to relax: he was amoung allies; there was no way the Wraith could have gotten in without killing them.

"Your turn Major," Carter said. "Markham can fly us straight for a few hours."

He looked at her, seeing the slight exhaustion around her eyes and he made to call her on it. He paused when he saw Martouf shake his head from behind the young woman, a silent warning. He nodded to Markham before he got to his feet, masking the stabbing pain in his side successfully as he followed Carter into the back of the Jumper.

"Off with the shirt Sheppard," Carter ordered him.

John frowned at the woman, a small cocky smile on his face. "I'd rather get to know you better before stripping off Carter," he told her.

The Tok'ra rolled her eyes. "You've got at least two injured ribs which need to be healed as well as that bullet scrape to your upper arm." She lifted up her hand-device-thingy in one hand, the dull orange crystal nestled in her palm. "It's a lot easier and quicker if there is no clothing in the way, Major." She looked at him with her blue eyes. "Now off with it."

He grinned at her before he carefully removed his tac-vest, wincing as his side flared in pain. He masked it as he removed it before he gingerly removed his dirt encrusted black shirt, wincing now as he heard the shirt rip. He sat down on the side seat offered by the Jumper and it was only then he looked down at his side. He felt his eyes widen slightly as he saw the bruise that covered it even as he felt the seat beside him dip slightly as Carter – he tried to think of her as Camilla as he remembered her requesting he call her by her first name – sat beside him. He looked up at her, watching as her eyes focused on his ribs for a moment before she raised her healing device.

He forced himself to relax when he heard it whine and saw the glow enter the crystal. For a few seconds the pain in his side increased and itched before subsiding and _Camilla _moved her hand to his upper arm, casting the glow over the bullet wound. He had felt a slight itch there long before the Jumper had landed but now it doubled – heck, it tripled – and John bit the inside of his cheek for the few seconds it took to heal the damage.

He relaxed when the whine and glow disappeared as Camilla lowered her arm with a sigh. "Done," she breathed as she pulled the device off.

John watched her for a moment before he grabbed her shoulder as she started to lean far too much to her right. He knew now he should have protested her trying to help him when she had already looked exhausted. He gently leaned her back against the wall of the Jumper.

"Easy there Carter," he said quietly, looking up to the front cabin, only to start when he saw the partition doors were shut before looking back to the woman sitting next to him.

He watched as Camilla took a breath before she nodded. "You can let go now Major," she said. "I wasn't expecting the healing to need so much energy." She shook her head, waving a hand. "I'm fine."

He let go of her shoulder before he pulled his hand back. The Major watched as she took a few breaths before she nodded and leaned forwards.

"Be careful," he told her. "I don't know if Rodney's piloting this thing, but your brother definitely felt ill earlier. It might be better if you slept. Or not if Rodney _is _piloting."

Camilla snorted. "Marty told me about Rodney's piloting," she said quietly. "Kel's keeping me going until we can get back to the City. I'll crash there where I know Rodney won't be piloting anything."

John smirked at that. "I understand that," he said. "You ready to join the others?"

The Tok'ra seemed to stop herself from rolling her eyes – either that or it was Kel'an. "I should be asking you that, Major," she said. "But, I am ready if you are."

Wordlessly, he reached up into the rack above his head and easily fished out a shirt that would replace the one he had ruined on the planet. With a hint of amusement, he watched as Camilla looked away as he pulled his shirt on before he tapped her shoulder.

"Let's go," he said before he paused. "How extensive are those memories of Kel'an's?"

The woman flushed before smiling weakly. "**_Very _**extensive, Major," she said before she stood and palmed the door to the cab open. "Very."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Carson stood waiting in the Gateroom, a large medical team waiting along with him. As soon as Elizabeth had contacted him about the Major and his team, he had readied a team and moved the lot of them to the Gateroom, ready to take the wounded directly from the Jumper before it got any further.

So, when the Stargate activated and the shield had been lowered, the Scottish doctor was more than mildly surprised when he saw the supposedly wounded Major effortlessly piloting the Jumper. When the Major jerked a thumb up at the Jumper bay above their heads, Carson turned and raced up the steps. He raced passed Elizabeth.

"'cuse me, lass," he called to her by way of an apology as he raced up the last flight of stairs into the Jumper bay. "Ah've got wounded ta look at."

He heard his medical teams following after him as he lead the charge into the bay where he forced himself to come to a stop as he saw the two Jumpers settled on the floor of the bay, both ends facing him.

The ramps were down and four Marines carefully carried two body bags down them. Worried, Carson cast a quick look at the people climbing out of the Jumpers and he sighed at the realisation that Drs Abram and Gaul were now dead, the two in the body bags.

He forced himself to focus on the living and watched as Lieutenant Ford helped Martouf down the ramp – not that the lad needed it from the appearance of a wounded shoulder on the male Tok'ra. He looked for Camilla and saw her sitting with the Major in the front of the Jumper that her brother had climbed out of. The two seemed to be talking amicably and he sighed as the Major seemed to sit and move with ease but Carson knew the lad well.

Oh aye he did. It was why, moments later, he walked up the ramp of the Jumper and into the front cabin. "Greetings Carson," the female Tok'ra spoke. "Do you need something?"

He nodded and smiled at the woman before he looked pointedly at the lad. "Aye, lass, ah do," he said. "Come with me Major. Ah need to check ye over."

Camilla seemed to smile. "Go on Major," she said. "I'll come and tell you more about the spacecraft the Tok'ra have at their disposal. You would find the information interesting."

Carson shook his head at the grin on the Major's face. "Come along, lad," he said firmly. "Ye can flirt later."

* * *

_"When you create something new, you're breaking tradition – which is an act of defiance." Steven Strogatz_

_"In war, resolution; in defeat, defiance; in victory, magnanimity." Winston Churchill_

* * *

I haven't had any reviews in all the time that I've been away. Aww. I feel so sad. Don't you all like this story anymore? Is there anything I can do to make it up to you all?

Well, I'll let all of you read this and enjoy. Please drop a review or two and let me know what you think. Please.


	10. Chap 9: Hot Zone

Standard Disclaimer is standard. Anyone you don't recognise or research as belonging to MGM and the Stargate franchise is mine.

I'm sorry that this has taken me over a month to get to you all. I'm so very sorry and I fully intend on getting another chapter out to you all, definitely within the next week - two if I am suddenly swamped with work.

That's been the major reason I haven't updated, and I am so very sorry. I currently have the next chapter mostly done with some fleshing out to still be done, but it's almost ready for you all.

* * *

I wish to remind people that there is an ongoing poll on who everyone thinks Camilla should get together with. If you go and click my penname at the top of this page, the poll is right at the top of my bio, so have a vote and I'll take a look. While I have promised at least one pairing to a reader, I will take all comments/poll votes seriously and consider how to work in a relationship – a friendship at the least – into the story.

I do want to thank those of you who have either voted on my page or through your reviews; to say the least, it's very interesting to see where everyone's opinions lie.

* * *

**Chapter 9: Entering The Hot Zone. Not For The First Time And Sadly Not The Last**

Martouf had long ago gotten used to the humans of Earth; it was a matter of ignoring them until you wanted to speak with the more annoying ones. It was why he was stood at the edge of the hoard of scientists that McKay had had join them in exploring the outer edges of the city that had been the worst affected by the storm weeks ago, long before the journey to the Wraith planet.

Martouf had also gotten used to the slight ache in his shoulder following that journey to the planet. Despite the healing Lantash had managed to perform on the joint and the healing device after Carson's close inspection and treatment, his shoulder had yet to heal properly. He had hoped that his shoulder would have been fully healed by the time the search through the City came around on the same day that both he and Camilla had agreed to finally celebrate both his natal day – birthday, if his English was correct – and his sister's despite the eight months that had passed since it had actually been.

**_I am sorry, my friend,_** he heard Lantash murmur in their shared mind.

Martouf rolled his shoulder slightly and shook his head. _You have nothing to apologise for Lantash, _he replied. _You have done all that you can, and that is all I can – and ever will – ask of you._

**_Your injury is no worse than what I healed you from following Netu, _**his closest friend protested. **_I have no idea as to why this is taking it's time to heal despite what I have put into it._**

Martouf rolled his eyes – admittedly a habit picked up from the Tau'ri around him. _The explosives within Wraith and Ancient technology are unknown to us, old friend, _he said. _It could merely be difficulty with our body purging the internalised materials from the bombs._

Martouf 'heard' his symbiote sigh. **_Then I hope it is just that, then, _**he said, his voice sounding a little strained. **_Other than the damage to your arm soon after our arrival here, this is the worst that I have had to heal with you, Martouf, since you returned as my host._**

It was the turn of the male host to sigh now. He remembered his time as a Zatarc with little fondness and now, he still tried to make his continued existence mean something after the Asgard removed the programming. Even if it meant that he died now, fighting alongside his sister instead of against her, he would do it and hope that Lantash found an adequate host after he passed on.

**_Hey! Stop moping, boy, _**Lantash said sharply, bringing him out of his thoughts. **_If that were to happen, I would not go on without you, Martouf son of Saroosh. You are the best host I have asked for since I was spawned and I do not wish to change that. When you die, I will join you._**

Martouf froze at that, shocked to the core of his being by his symbiote's words. _But, Lantash, your knowledge would die with us, _he said quietly. _That knowledge is indispensable and can't be lost._

He heard a scoff from his closest friend. **_As long as Kel'an lasts longer than us, _**he answered, **_her knowledge will be shared. That is enough for me as much of her knowledge coincides with mine, Martouf. There is no way to talk me out of this, so do not try._**

The man sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. He knew from experience that when Lantash got something set in his mind, there was no changing it. With another sigh he did a quick head count of the scientists, relaxing when he counted them all, minus McKay, Zelenka and Hays as well as Lieutenant Ford who were on their way back from their section of the city. He relaxed at that, leaning absently against his Staff Weapon, a quiet part of his mind resolving to try and persuade Lantash to take another host on after him.

The Tau'ri radio in both his ear and in the improvised pouch of his belt buzzed quietly to life and Martouf freed one hand to silence the hand held radio in the pouch.

_"So, Rodney, what's it like out there in the suburbs today?" _Dr. Weir asked, just as the Canadian walked into the room.

"Essentially, with the exception of the upper level Storage room," the scientist began, "which the lovely Dumais informs me is in no immediate danger, this pier's in relatively good shape."

_"Even after all the flooding from the storm?" _the head of the expedition asked.

"Well, it's dark, it's damp and it smells terrible," McKay answered. "But from an engineering standpoint, we're good."

Martouf heard a soft chuckle at that. _"Head back," _she ordered softly.

"Heading back," McKay said before he tapped his radio, ending the connection and Martouf did the same with a small smile.

It appeared that they would be returning back to the main tower of the city with time to spare. Martouf had plans for spending time with his sister, helping her if she needed it or just spending some time with her. It had been a luxury he had repeatedly allowed himself as he lived on Earth, but it was sadly something that he now had precious little of with Camilla now heading the newly formed Translation Department for the Ancient City and he himself a semi-constant member of Major Sheppard's team.

"Alright, you clowns, listen up!" McKay called out. "I don't often get a chance to say this, so savour it: good work, boys and girls! Let's go home."

Martouf sighed as he did a final head count more out of habit than anything else and frowned when he came up two short. "Hold on, Dr.," he called. "We're missing two of your men."

"Johnson and Wagner," Zelenka supplied after a hurried moment.

Martouf heard McKay sigh quietly, his Tok'ra enhanced senses catching the noise. "Wagner, Johnson, what's your position?" the Canadian asked.

There was a long silence and Martouf quickly activated the radio ear piece in case he was missing the conversation.

_"We need back-up!" _Wagner eventually answered, his voice sounding as terrified as Martouf had heard any man. _"They're coming at us!"_

"What?!" McKay snapped out.

Martouf looked at the Czech scientist, raising a hand to Lieutenant Ford. "Where are they?" he asked the man firmly.

It took the man a few seconds to check his life signs detector before he pointed down one corridor. "Down this corridor," he answered.

Martouf looked at McKay as he moved quickly, passing through the scientists before they knew he was there. "We're on our way," McKay snapped into his radio, his footsteps starting behind the Tok'ra.

It took seconds for Martouf to lift up his Staff Weapon sufficiently high enough for him to flick the activation switch and hear the buzzing of the device as he moved quickly down the corridor, racing when he turned at the end and saw a curled up form near a prone one.

Wagner was the one that lay prone as far as Martouf could determine and the woman curled in on herself, rocking and sobbing, was Johnson. Martouf scanned the area quickly before he crouched down by Wagner, gripping a wrist while he sensed Ford pressed two fingers to the man's throat. It took several seconds before Martouf looked at Ford and shook his head.

"Johnson, Johnson!" McKay snapped at the woman and Martouf looked up to see the man crouched down in front of her. "You okay?"

"McKay," Ford called, waiting until the Canadian looked at him. "He's dead!"

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam sighed as she sat in the infirmary of Atlantis. It was the monthly blood tests that she had quickly come to hate on the floating base. To make sure that no one had contracted anything potentially dangerous – or in her case, something that could get passed Kel'an – the blood tests had been ordered by both Elizabeth and Carson at the very beginning of the forced separation from Earth.

The head of expedition had initially ordered the tests to make sure that there wasn't any potentially dangerous in everyone's blood whereas Carson had taken to comparing the blood samples drawn from the Athosians to the ones from the Tau'ri.

She hissed in a bit of pain as she felt Carson slide the needle into the vein in her right elbow – she had once heard that it didn't hurt, but as far as the woman was concerned, it was a lie; although she had to admit that the first time had not hurt as much as she had expected.

"Agh, buck up lass," the Scottish doctor told her after a few seconds. "It's just a bit o' blood."

Cam nodded at that, resolutely looking away from the vial filling with her blood. "Yeah, I know," she said. "But there's an integral part of me that would have preferred to have lost it in a fight."

Carson chuckled as he took the one full vial and replaced it with an empty one. "Tha' would b' Kel'an lass," he said. "How many of her hosts 'ave been fighters?"

The Tok'ra nodded at that. "More than half of them," she agreed. "It just feels like my own, Carson."

The head of the infirmary nodded as he withdrew the second vial before withdrawing the needle. Cam reacted and automatically lifted her hand to her shoulder, waiting for the blood to clot there. When she heard Carson curse in a quick spate of Gaelic, she grinned slightly and looked up at him as he tapped at his radio earpiece.

"McKay, this is Dr. Beckett," the man said. "What exactly is the nature of the emergency?"

Cam sighed, realising that she had left her own earpiece back in the rooms set aside for her work. She sat and waited, watching as the doctor's mild frown deepened.

"Who's gone?" he asked. "How?"

**_Oh dear, _**Kel' muttered. **_This cannot be good._**

The woman nodded at that before she watched Carson, watched as he held a short conversation before he tapped his earpiece. He seemed to think for a moment in the seconds it took for him to look at her. "How are you in a hazmat suit, love?" he asked her after another few seconds.

Cam shrugged. "I'm alright," she answered as she lowered her arm and checked her elbow. "I'm not claustrophobic if I'm in one if that's what you're getting at Carson. Why do you ask?"

The Scottish doctor nodded to himself for a moment. "Rodney's called in for a containment team," he answered. "I need a full complement of people in hazmat suits to go down to the pier. I'm sending one of the doctors up to Elizabeth."

Cam nodded as she got down off of the medical bed she was sat on and moved to follow the man. "Let's go!" she said.

She froze when Carson turned to look at her. "I need y', lass, to go ahead of the rest of us," he told her firmly. "Rodney's goin' to need an Ancient translator."

Cam nodded at that, understanding. "Point me at the nearest suit," she agreed. "I'll get down as soon as I can."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Rodney sighed as he walked down the Ancient corridors, following the odd corridors to the last room that he had known Wagner and Johnson to have been in. He had long ago tuned out Peterson's angered mutterings, aided by the two Marines taking up the rear and Martouf walking beside him.

"Isn't this the same section Johnson and Wagner were exploring?" Ford asked from his other side.

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Yes," he answered shortly, calmly leading the way.

"So, we're retracing their steps?" Ford continued.

Rodney nodded and he absently drew on a rubber glove, protecting his hand from anything that could have killed two of his scientists. "That's right," he said. "Don't worry; my motivations are based entirely on self-preservation."

"Wait, wait! Wait!" Peterson called out. "Wait! Ford's right. Doesn't this increase our chances of getting infected?"

Rodney stopped and turned, barely resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the stupidity of his own men. He faced everyone.

"Alright," he said. "Let me spell this out for you, OK?" He looked around for a heartbeat. "If there is a bacterial agent and it is not airborne, then it should be relatively safe for us to look around as long as we take the proper precautions." He paused, thinking for a moment. "However, if it is an airborne agent, then there's a very good chance we're already infected."

"Well, shouldn't we wait for Dr. Beckett to decide that?"Ford asked.

Rodney sighed, suddenly wishing that he hadn't chosen one of the greener soldiers to join him – he'd been hoping to help the boy. "Those men were only down there for twelve hours," he told everyone as calmly as he dared. "Even if they were infected right away, that's an alarmingly short incubation period. Now, if anyone else is infected, as in – oh, I don't know – maybe us, seconds are going to count, Lieutenant." He saw the man nodded after a moment before he looked around. "Alright, light." He held out his hand and took the torch that Zelenka offered. "Let's go."

It didn't take long to find the room that he'd designated for Wagner and Johnson to look at and Rodney couldn't help the small pulse of guilt; maybe, if he hadn't sent anyone down here, they'd all still be alive, heading back into the main part of the city instead of looking for what had killed two of his scientists and potentially threatened the rest of them. He sighed, shaking his head ever so slightly; the Canadian had hoped that by exploring the City he'd be able to make up for Gaul's suicide.

Rodney paused at the partially open door, shining the torch inside for a moment, seeing the familiar Ancient consoles and Ancient writing as he pushed the past aside for the moment. Martouf joined him, shining his own light in and the combined light made things a little clearer; from what little that could be seen, it looked like there was a central console in the middle of the room surrounded by several, other consoles.

"Right," he said. "Everybody stay here."

He felt Ford shift and move to join the other scientists. "Ford," he said warningly.

"You just told me to-" the soldier began.

"Everybody except Ford, stay here," Rodney clarified. "You think I'm going in there by myself? Uh-uh." He looked at Martouf, watching as the Tok'ra nodded, shifting his Staff weapon.

"I will keep watch," he said.

The scientist nodded before he squeezed in through the partially open door, wincing as he heard his tac vest catch for a moment before he continued on. He heard Ford join him, just as a crunching emanated from their feet, sounding a lot like glass. He turned to look at Ford, the man raising his P-90, ready to shoot at a moment's notice.

"Don't touch anything," he ordered him.

Ford nodded and they began their quick exploration of the room, stepping over the rest of the glass. Rodney moved towards the central consoles, seeing the large glass tubes there, well over half of them broken, the source of a lot of the glass on the floor. From the things floating in the last remaining few glass tubes, it looked like whatever had been in them had possible killed his men.

"This is not good," he muttered.

A-A-A-A-A-A

When Martouf saw McKay nod and gesture for them to enter, he handed his Staff Weapon off to one of the other soldiers before he grasped the two halves of the doors and pushed. Hard.

His muscles – enhanced as they were by Lantash – strained as he pushed against the Ancient-created metal, his arms shaking from the force he applied. It took a few seconds before the metal groaned and submitted to his strength. Opening the small gap to a full, Ancient doorway width seemed the easier route for getting their gear into the room.

Still, as he let go of the doors and moved to one side to let the scientists go in first with their gear, Martouf felt his arms shaking from the effort. It had taken a lot more strength to open the doors than he had originally thought it would. Then, the shaking subsided and the slight pain faded.

**_It seems the Ancient metal and door mechanisms are stronger than we had anticipated, _**Lantash murmured in his mind.

Martouf chuckled at that, grinning slightly to himself. _It seems that Camilla has a lot to answer for, _he agreed. _She, out of all of us, would have known._

It took a few seconds before Martouf felt ready to help the scientists, going back to the main room they had inhabited to store their tools and coming back with several of the heaviest boxes with him and the two soldiers that had joined him.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Rodney used his gloved hand to rest against the Ancient console as he checked through the information, cursing the fact that he was running on very little Ancient knowledge in terms of being able to translate what was in front of him. He could understand some, guess more and only wish at what the rest of it was.

It was, he silently admitted, one of the few times that he wished Camilla had joined them or that he'd badgered her into giving him more lessons – something he had steadfastly refused to do.

"Any number of these smashed and open containers could have released the virus that killed Johnson and Wagner," Zelenka put in from across the room, drawing him out of his maudlin thoughts.

"And how would something like that survive for all these years?" Ford asked.

"Viruses can remain dormant for long periods," he heard Dumais answer.

Zelenka grunted, muttering something in Czech as he walked over. "I'm hoping something will be found in the database," he said. "OK, I think that we-"

Rodney waved the man off. "Yes, yes, yes, yes," he said dismissively. "It doesn't appear to be networked in with the rest of the Ancient systems." He pointed to information of his screen. "In fact, if you look, it only contains information about the experiments that took place in this room." Realisation dawned on Rodney then and he slapped at his radio, hearing it buzz to life in his ear. "Weir, it's McKay."

_"Go ahead Rodney," _the head of Atlantis answered.

"Where's Beckett?" he asked her as he moved away from the computer, letting Zelenka take a look at it.

_"He's on his way," _Elizabeth answered calmly. _"It takes some time to load a whole medical team into suits. But, he has sent Camilla on ahead, she should be with you in ten minutes or so."_

Rodney froze at that. "What for?" he asked, hearing Martouf cursing quietly in the background. "Why is she coming?"

_"According to Beckett, she was in for her monthly bloods when you called it in. He's sent her down for her ability to translate."_

"Send her back!" Martouf ordered. "I will not have my sister exposed to this!"

_"I can't do anything, Martouf," _Elizabeth said. _"She's in a hazmat suit, she'll be fine. Camilla has strict orders to leave the suit on and do nothing to harm herself or Kel'an."_

Rodney shook his head. "Despite this, we seem to have stumbled across something that I find… a little troubling," he said, trying to remember where his mind had gone.

_"That's not what I want to hear."_

A-A-A-A-A-A

Dumais had been scanning the Ancient on the screen in front of her, trying to see what could have killed her two friends and threatened the rest of them. She'd seen something earlier, after speaking with Wagner, but she'd brushed it off, slipping her long brown hair into her usual ponytail as she looked at her work.

Now, that feeling had returned and she looked up, terrified at the whispy creatures that stood in the room. It terrified her that no one else seemed to see what she could, looking at the horrible creatures! She couldn't hear what Dr. McKay was saying as she whimpered, the creatures coming closer to her and moved back from her laptop, unable to move more than that.

She turned to look away, to do anything and she screamed at the sight of the creatures all over Peterson, the man trying to help in translating. "It's all over you!" she cried out, rushing to remove the creatures.

The creatures had him, Dumais knew it as he struggled to keep her off, the creatures taunting her as they clung to the man.

"They're all over you!" she sobbed out. "They're all over you!"

Dumais felt a couple of the others grabbing her, dragging her back, keeping her away from her friend, the friend she was struggling to aid. Then the pain started and she screamed, clutching at her head. Everything hurt so much!

She couldn't help the screams, the convulsions of pain as she struggled to fight through it. If only it would stop! Dear lord, someone just stop the pain! It felt like her skull was about to split in two!

Then the pain got worse and worse and worse and Dumais felt something sticky trickling down her lip seconds before everything went dark. But not before she saw Peterson leaving the lab.

A-A-A-A-A-A

John ground his teeth as he sat on the bench at the window in the City's designated gym, fighting the urge to take his ear piece out and throw it hard against the nearest wall.

"Someone has to do something," he ground out.

_"We are doing something," _Elizabeth answered calmly in his ear. _"Grodin's working on a plan to limit the door controls…"_

John shook his head at that, gripping the leather of the seat in an iron grip to try and not destroy his only link to the rest of the base. "That's not good enough," he told her. "Someone has to go out there and stop him. Teyla and I are ready."

_"Major we've been-"_

John shook his head, interrupting her as he stood. "Peterson obviously isn't thinking straight," he told her. "And he's endangering the entire population of the City."

_"Mai'tac Sheppard, why do you think I'm currently trying to play hide and seek with the man?!" _Carter's voice broke in, sounding mildly breathless.

John ground his teeth and started to pace. "You aren't armed," he said.

_"Contrary to the current belief held by the chauvinists in the City," _Carter answered calmly, _"I am, in actuality, armed with a P-90, the safety off and my finger on the trigger. I am certainly more than capable in taking care of Peterson should he turn violent."_

"But-"

_"Should I remind you, **Major**, that if you disobey the orders of Dr. Weir, that I would have the right to court martial you here, by Tok'ra standards?" _the Tok'ra said in a surprisingly hard tone of voice. _"I have also been awake for close to three days now, Major Sheppard and my control over my own temper and Kel'an's is wearing thin. Push your luck and you will find yourself wishing you had not disobeyed."_

Before John could say another word, the woman had cut her connection and Elizabeth murmured a polite goodbye before she, too, cut her connection.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam raced through the corridors of the city's pier, moving as quickly as she dared in the cumbersome suit. She heard Peter Grodin's voice in her ear, directing her towards Peterson as he worked towards the City's closest transporter. She could easily feel her Staff Weapon strapped carefully across her back while she carried a P-90 in her hands, the weapon set to semi-auto, needing the control.

_"He's working on the door right in front of you," _the technician said. _"He's almost through."_

Cam nodded as she settled herself. With a sigh, she felt Kel'an forcibly lower her arms, subtly reminding her of her silent promise.

**_Just in case, _**her friend reminded her seconds before the doors hissed open a small fraction, revealing the scientist, his skin covered in sweat. **_You did say that you wanted to take him alive. Not dead._**

Peterson froze when he saw Cam who merely raised her hands away from the P-90. "I'm not here to hurt you, Peterson," she told him. "You know I don't like weapons."

"Then why carry one?!" the man snapped at her.

She shrugged. "Procedure," she answered. "Come on, Dr. Beckett's already back with the others."

The man shook his head. "I'm not heading back there!" he told her before he grinned. "You could take me to the infirmary! It's safe there."

Cam shook her head sadly at the man as he moved through the open door. "I can't do that," she said, even as she took a slow, careful and subtle step backwards from the man. "The sensors aren't working here in the pier, but they are up in the tower. You would infect everyone within seconds." She paused, thinking quickly before she nodded. "How about this; we head somewhere else on this pier, away from the others so you won't have to go back."

The man shook his head. "Just let me through!" he snapped. "Just let me through."

Cam took a single step back and grabbed her P-90. "By order of the Tok'ra High Council, stay where you are!" she ordered.

The man didn't listen as he started screaming and raced towards her, raising a piece of Ancient metal he had obviously found. As he ran towards her, wielding the metal like a knife, slashing it, Cam found herself begging the man to stop as she moved out of his range of attacks.

It was only when his last slice scratched the clear face plate that Cam reached for her P-90 and fired the one shot she had prayed she wouldn't need to fire.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Martouf moved to intercept his sister before she entered the lab, nodding once to Rodney. The scientist understood, everyone, including the main part of the city, had heard what had happened and Martouf had to make sure his sister was well, even as he left his weapon behind in the lab.

He met her two corridors away, her gait slow and her expression blank as she carried Peterson's body in her arms, the blood from the one bullet wound trickling down the synthetic skin of the hazmat suit she wore. It wasn't a good sign and Martouf moved slowly into her line of sight.

"Camilla?" he asked her.

Her blue eyes snapped to his, tears clear in her eyes and her face looked like she was about to crack, her emotions ready to run wild. "Marty?" she breathed, her voice distorted slightly by the hazmat suit she wore.

He reached out to her, resting a hand on her shoulder, ignoring the sensation of the suit under his bare palm. As much as he wished to draw his sister into a tight embrace, with Peterson's body in her arms and their shared respect of the body, it was the most the two of them would have to settle for.

Instead, Martouf watched as various emotions played across Camilla's face, a few tears breaking free of her control. Despite Kel'an's memories and her own knowledge of how to kill brought on by years of working with the Stargate Programme, this had been her first 'innocent' that she'd killed. His sister was certainly not made for this, for the fight that inevitably took and killed the innocents. Martouf had his own memories of such cases and those innocents haunted him, those at that summit the more prolific in their torture of him.

"Why didn't he just do as I asked?" Camilla asked as she looked at him, her voice thick with tears. "Why?"

Martouf sighed as he rubbed his sister's arm. "It was not in his make up to do so, Camilla," he told her.

She nodded. "I know," she agreed. "I've never killed someone who was only doing what they had to. To survive." She sniffed and muffled a sob. "Let's get to the others."

Martouf tightened his grip on her shoulder for a few seconds before he relaxed slightly. "We'll deal with this later," he promised her.

A-A-A-A-A-A

After having given Carson's Coroner Peterson's body to join the others being autopsied for C.O.D.s, Cam walked beside her brother as calmly as she dared into the room she had originally been sent to go to before having to deal with Peterson, startled to see one scientist lying on the floor while Rodney stood in the middle of the room, various medical cables attached to him. "Donnae take this the wrong way laddie," Carson was saying.

"But why?" Zelenka said, finishing some conversation that had occurred while Cam and Martouf had been out of the room.

"Exactly," Carson agreed.

Cam shook her head at that. "Any translations I can do?" she asked, giving everyone a weak smile – she was thankful when their attention as brought on her and not on the blood that she had been forced to remove from the suit, no matter what anyone said, Peterson's blood was on her hands now. "It's why I originally came here."

Rodney turned to look at her more completely as the wires were removed and he nodded, pointing to a laptop nearby, resting on one of the consoles around the room. "My Ancient is a little rusty," he admitted. "I need you to give me a quick, rough translation of what they were covering in this room."

Cam nodded and gave the scientist a mock salute. "I can do that," she said, moving to the laptop, even as she sensed her brother staying close to her. "Really rough or detailed rough Rodney?"

"Detailed as you can get in five minutes."

**_Five minutes? _**Kel' asked. **_Sure, why don't we just solve the entire problem for you while we're at it?!_**

_Shush, Kel', _Cam ordered her friend as she nodded and stood at the laptop, her eyes scanning the information quickly. _He's under a lot of stress right now._

She heard her friend sigh in her mind before a hum of agreement filled her mind. "I'll be in the room where they're doing the autopsy," Rodney told her, pausing at her shoulder as he rested a hand there. "They're going to start on Hays as soon as they've got him there."

Cam nodded as she looked at the scientist, reaching up a hand to pat his. "I'll call you when I've got something," she promised him before he left and she turned her attention back to the laptop screen.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Rodney stood at the edge of the plastic covered room, watching as Biro and her team worked on Hays who lay under a separately wrapped container, the only contact the pathologist and her team were having were through small holes cut into the plastic so that their arms and tools could work on the corpse.

Carson stood nearby, watching him. "Are ye sure ye really wanna see this, Rodney?" he asked.

He ignored the question, brushing it off. "It's too accurate," he said, remembering what Hays had told him, what he himself had experienced. "How could something organic be that efficient?"

Carson sighed. "Again, we're in the middle of another galaxy, lad," he said. "Just because it's out of the ordinary for us does nae mean it's nae commonplace here."

Rodney shook his head. "No, no, no," he said. "I don't buy that. Most of the habitable planets we've encounter thus far are-are-are carbon copies of Earth in terms of environment conditions." Carson nodded in agreement and it hit Rodney just as his radio burst to life.

_"Rodney,"_ Camilla spoke in his ear. _"I think you're going to want to read this. I may or may not have found your smoking gun."_

He turned and rushed out of the room, hearing Carson calling something. It took only seconds to reach the room and from there a heartbeat to get to the Tok'ra.

"Aneurysm, visual cortex, twelve hours?" the woman listed calmly.

Rodney nodded. "Yes," he said. "Why?"

The woman grinned – though Rodney saw how weak it looked – as she turned to the laptop and tapped the screen. "Incubation to completion, exactly six hours," she said. "Visions identical for all infected and the location of the aneurysm is the same for every single victim of this."

Rodney shrugged. "And?" he asked. "That just sounds like you've listed everything we already know."

The woman shook her head. "Direct, albeit rough, translation of the work done in this room," she said. "From infection to actual symptoms of this thing, six hours and add on another six to death, you have your C.O.D."

The scientist watched as she opened another, nearby laptop and he looked at the screen, well aware of Carson joining him. "Is that what I think it is, lass?" the doctor asked.

"If you think it's a nano-virus, then you'd be right on that one Carson," Camilla answered.

Rodney scanned the information quickly. "One manufactured to kill _humans_," he added calmly.

A-A-A-A-A-A

John paced the inside of the gym for probably the hundredth time. He hated sitting around when he could be doing something and with the doors closed to the hallway under Elizabeth's order he had no way to vent his anger. It wasn't helped by the fact that the head of the City and of the translations department had overridden him. John was like any hot-blooded man: he never liked being put in his place by women, even when they were right.

Okay, maybe there were times that he could live with that, but right now, he had the welfare of the city to worry about. So what if he died protecting them, it was his life over the loss over a third of the city's population. He would make the choice again and again and again if given the opportunity. Even now, he wished he'd been the one to go after Peterson, Camilla was a young woman who – as far as her records showed – had never killed an innocent man and now she had from the sound of things that had gone over the radio system.

His radio buzzed to life in his ear, startling him for a moment. _"Major Sheppard," _Rodney spoke in his head. _"This is McKay."_

John looked up. "What is it?" he asked.

_"I could use your help in my lab," _the Canadian answered.

John frowned. "Elizabeth?" he asked, directing the question at the head of the city.

_"You have a go, John," _she answered. _"Stop off at the infirmary and pick up a hazmat suit, but you're cleared to go."_

He turned his head and looked at the doors, watching as they slid open with a compliant hiss and chime. He nodded and left the gym. He stopped off quickly in the infirmary and pulled on the hazmat suit before he made a beeline for McKay's lab.

It took him several long minutes, hop-scotching around the city using the transporters to get closer and closer until he walked in the front doors. "Alright, McKay," he said. "I'm here."

_"D'you see it?"_ the scientist asked.

John couldn't help the shrug. "Is it the big thing in the middle of the room?" he asked.

_"Yeah," _Rodney answered. "_That's the one."_

The machine was large, standing on an Ancient table in the middle of the room, looking a lot like a bomb from the 1940s with black and yellow hazard strips covering both ends while two stickers 'Warning' and 'Caution' appeared on the side with the dial.

"Should I pay attention to all these warnings?" he asked.

Rodney snorted. _"Not today, no," _he answered before rattling off a list of what to do.

John took a moment, tilting his head to one side as his mind took in the orders and promptly began to follow them through, vaguely hearing the scientist holding another conversation as he worked; first typing the code in at the front of the machine to let him work, then hitting the rest of the buttons in sequence that would get the generator to start up. As such, he saw the lights inside the machine moving as a whirring emanated from it.

"Okay," he said, talking to Rodney. "It's working. When should I hit the discharge button?"

_"OK, there should be a red overload light," _the scientist told him.

It took John a few seconds to see it, right beneath the front of the EM generator. "Yeah, I see it," he said.

_"Wait 'til it comes on, give it a good ten count and then discharge," _Rodney told him.

John paused, frowning. "A ten-count?!" he asked, never having heard the term.

_"Don't worry, I've probably been around more EMPs than anyone," _the man said, mistaking his question.

John shook his head. "This is gonna be… uh…" he managed. "I'm going to be fine, right?"

_"Yes," _the man answered sarcastically. _"That's a yes. You'll be fine."_

John sighed and nodded, looking at the overload light for a few seconds before it came on. He flipped the switch for the button and began counting to ten, adding on another couple of numbers in case he'd moved too fast before he hit the button.

He looked up at the sound of a 'whooshing'. He couldn't help but look around expectantly, waiting. _"Anything?" _Rodney asked.

_"Is it possible it might take some time?" _Elizabeth asked as John watched the EM generator powered down.

_"Doubtful. Are you still locked out of the Ancient mainframe?"_

There were a few tense seconds. _"Got any other ideas?" _Elizabeth asked.

John heard Rodney switch languages, French cursing audible over the radio and John winced before Rodney got control of himself and switched back to English. The orders that Rodney snapped down the frequency at him went over his head, but John followed them, following the visual cues in front of him. It took some time before John sighed and growled under his breath.

"I've already tried that," he snarled. "It's blown."

_"That is before we re-set the sub-switch," _Rodney snapped back.

"Well, maybe we shouldn't have overloaded it so much!" John snarled back.

_"Look, it's fixable, it's fixable," _the Canadian told him. _"We just need to use a little trial and error."_

John hung his head, barely restraining his hands from ripping the hazmat's helmet off and running his hand through his hair as he fought not to kick the table, knowing he risked the wroth of McKay if he did so.

"Look," he ground out between clenched teeth. "Even if we get this thing working, who's to say the pulse is gonna get any bigger? Ford and Zelenka have twenty minutes before their arteries rupture." He sighed. "Are you sure an EMP will kill this thing?"

_"Yes."_

John nodded before he stood up from the table. "Alright," he said. "I have an idea."

He promptly turned and ran out of the room. John headed to the closest room that he knew held what could be the answer to the EMP distance. It took him several minutes to get to the nearest Naquadah generator room, describing his plan in its totality on the way there.

"What do you mean 'no'?" he asked Elizabeth, stopping short as he struggled to understand what the woman had said.

_"It's too dangerous," _the woman answered.

"You'd rather lose a third of our population?" he asked her.

_"We're not there yet, Major," _Elizabeth said.

He shook his head as he stood behind the generator. "We are there!" he snapped. "Ford and Zelenka are next. The rest of the people in the pier have less than three hours. We know that this has spread to parts of the rest of the city!" He knew it, the city had long ago locked them out of the mainframe, but kept the top of the tower clear. "This is a full blown outbreak! People are gonna keep dying unless we do this!"

_"Elizabeth," _Camilla put in. _"Even if the EMP generator in Rodney's lab managed to get back online, there is no guarantee that it would be able to make a strong enough pulse to take out the nano-virus."_

_"Can we bring the infected to the generator?" _Elizabeth asked.

_"We can't," _Grodin answered. _"The city won't let infected personnel through any of the doors."_

_"The Major is right," _Rodney said tiredly, sounding close to collapsing. _"The only way to create an EMP strong enough to wipe out these little guys is to-"_

_"-to detonate a nuclear explosion in the atmosphere!" _Elizabeth snapped. _"Yes, I heard the first time!"_

_"I know it sounds severe, but if the Major was able to overload a Naquadah generator twenty miles above the city, it would be perfectly safe for a radiological standpoint and the ensuing blast would be capable of creating a devastating electromagnetic shockwave," _Rodney said. _"Definitely enough to knock this virus out."_

_"Hopefully without destroying all our own computer equipment!" _Grodin put in.

_"There's a reason human technology has a power button, Peter," _Camilla said calmly. _"You know an EMP won't affect anything powered down."_

There was a pregnant paused before John heard Elizabeth sigh. _"OK," _she said. _"You have a go."_

John nodded slowly, understanding the woman's reluctance. He moved quickly, switching the generator off before he unplugged it and made it more compact. He nodded and promptly picked it up, leaving the room.

A-A-A-A-A-A

It took him ten minutes to get the Jumper ready and with that done, he'd raced into the Jumper and set off, piloting the Jumper up and out before heading twenty miles up into the air.

"I'm almost in position," he said, rolling his head, well aware that the helmet of the hazmat was on the seat next to him.

_"Understood," _Elizabeth said. _"Would the EM pulse have any effect on the Puddle Jumper?"_

_"Doubtful," _Camilla said. _"It isn't like Tau'ri technology, so it shouldn't."_

John nodded. "Either way," he said, "I'm more worried about the shockwave."

_"Good luck," _Elizabeth said.

He nodded. "You too," he said.

_"You're only going to have thirty seconds once you release it before it explodes," _Rodney told him. _"You need to get as far away as you can."_

John paused. "Get as far away from the nuclear explosion as possible," he said as he steadily reached eighteen miles, eighteen and half. "That's good advice, Rodney. Thanks!"

_"You're welcome."_

He reached twenty miles and he nodded. "I'm releasing the generator… now," he said, flicking the switch and turning the Jumper around pushing the speed limit of the Jumper as far as he could go.

He heard Grodin counting down as he headed back in the direction of the city. Light filled his vision as the Jumper was buffeted by the shockwave. It took several seconds before the light faded and John as able to get the Jumper flying back towards the city.

_"Maj…"_

_"Major…. You….ead me?" _Elizabeth's voice finally managed to get through.

He sighed, leaning back in his seat for a moment before he focused on the Jumper once more. "This is Sheppard," he said. "I've cleared the blast, I'm returning home."

_"I'm glad to hear it, Major," _Elizabeth said.

John nodded and sighed. "Did it work?" he asked.

He wanted to make sure that he didn't have to pull another, similar stunt.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam sighed as she stood on the balcony of the main tower, looking out on the sunrise that was just starting. She hadn't slept, had only stopped off in the infirmary long enough to get out of the hazmat suit. The Tok'ra had left for the hidden balcony as soon as she had left the infirmary.

She could feel Kel'an asleep in her mind, her friend long ago having decided to sleep. That little hint of mild normalcy soothing her nerves as she stood on the balcony. Cam resolutely looked away from her hands, swallowing against the thought of the blood that now covered her hands, the _innocent _blood.

She'd killed before, taken the lives of those who deserved it, taken the lives of the Goa'uld hosts, knowing that there was no possibility of rescuing them. But somehow, it was different now with Peterson's death.

Cam tensed as she heard the door to the balcony hiss open and she stayed frozen in her place. "Was wondering where you got to," she heard Sheppard comment as he walked out to join her.

Cam relaxed slightly and quickly wiped at her eyes as she faced away from the pilot. "Wanted to be alone," she told him.

Sheppard nodded as he stood beside her, leaning against the pillar support of the balcony. "Shouldn't be," he said.

The Tok'ra host arched an eyebrow at him. "And why shouldn't I?" she asked him. "Don't see anyone else staying in groups."

Sheppard shook his head, looking out at the sunrise for a few seconds before he looked at her. "They haven't killed anyone," he said. "_You_, however, have."

Cam looked away, tensing at that, barely controlling her anger. "Doesn't mean you have to babysit me, Sheppard!" she snapped out. "It's not the first time I've killed."

He nodded, crossing his arms as he continued to look at her. "I know," he agreed. "But Peterson was your first _innocent _kill."

Cam felt her anger drain. "By Egeria, how do you know what _I'm _thinking?" she asked him.

Sheppard shrugged. "Happened to me with my first kill," he said. "You've got the advantage that it's not your first kill, but it is with the innocent." He looked at her, tilting his head slightly. "Look, I'm just offering you some company while you sort things out in your own head."

The woman sighed and nodded. "I'd like that," she said finally. "Coffee?" she asked. "My treat."

Elizabeth had set up a system based around the idea of credits that everyone had. A good idea in principle. Cam saw Sheppard's full grin appear at the offer.

"How can I refuse a beautiful woman's offer?" he asked as they both stood up.

Cam rolled her eyes at that. "Be careful, Sheppard," she told him. "My brother might take affront."

* * *

_"I was only the servant of my country and had I, at any moment, failed to express her unflinching resolve to fight and conquer, I should at once have been rightly cast aside." Winston Churchill_

_"In a battle all you need to make you fight is a little hot blood and the knowledge that it's more dangerous to lose than to win." George Bernard Shaw_

* * *

Response to reviews/reviewers:

Okay, how much of an idiot must I be to not see the answer comment button in the reviews section? As of today, I will answer the guest reviews here, in this section and I will directly answer the signed in reviewers through the return comment button.

**greyghost4019ho**: It is certainly not to late to put your opinion in. I always enjoy listening - or reading as the case may be - to the opinions my readers have. It's certainly nice to hear your opinion.

**Silent-reader**: I'm not entirely sure if describing Camilla as "freat" is good or not, but I'll most certainly take it as good for now - do let me know. I'm glad that this is enjoyable for you, despite English not being your first. If you wouldn't mind my asking, what is your first language?

I completely understand your opinion of Camilla and Martouf - in fact, if I hadn't made their relationship that of brother and sister, I probably would have leaned in that direction in the first place!

* * *

A quick word to my "guest" reviewers, if you want to vote in the poll, please do, there's no limitation on only members voting. I would dearly love to see what **_all _**of my readers think.

**EDITED 19th November 2013: **Correction to grammar as well as chapter title inside the chapter. My apologies if you receive multiple notifications for this chapter.

Signing off for now, Stargatefanatic123


	11. Chap 10: Sanctuary

Standard Disclaimer is standard. Anyone you don't recognise or research as belonging to MGM and the Stargate franchise is mine. Though, I do admit, finding a way to get Ronon Dex and/or John Sheppard to my place is high on my list of priorities.

I promised to get this out to you as soon as I could and here I am! I had the majority of this already done, so I decided to post it. I'm not entirely happy with how it turned out - it's half as long as I would have liked it to be at - but I really wanted to give you guys something as an apology for not updating the previous chapter sooner. I also promised to get it out to you within one week, minimum, unless I had work. I think you can all guess that my work hasn't hampered me just yet.

Oh, and warning here people. I rated this story 'T' for a reason. Mildly offensive language towards the end of this chapter. Just a warning and a disclaimer on that.

* * *

I wish to remind people that there is an ongoing poll on who everyone thinks Camilla should get together with. If you go and click my penname at the top of this page, the poll is right at the top of my bio, so have a vote and I'll take a look. While I have promised at least one pairing to a reader, I will take all comments/poll votes seriously and consider how to work in a relationship – a friendship at the least – into the story.

I do want to thank those of you who have either voted on my page or through your reviews; to say the least, it's very interesting to see where everyone's opinions lie.

* * *

**Chapter 10: Can We Have Sanctuary? Please?... No? **

Without turning her head, Cam knew exactly where all the Ancient Gene carriers – natural and not – were around here. As such, she could easily sense three strong presences in the Control Room while she could also sense Elizabeth to her left.

The Tok'ra frowned at that as she leaned against the metal railing of the small balcony attached to the Control Room. Since the alien nano-virus a few weeks before, Cam would have sworn that everyone throughout the Ancient City was still watching her closely, especially because of Peterson's death – something that the woman knew she would forever remember and regret.

Shaking her head slightly, to herself more than anything else, the woman sighed. Cam had hoped that when she'd gone to confront Peterson that it would have been easy enough to get behind the man during the fight to disarm him, to disable him without killing him. But the opposite had proven true, forcing her to use the one method she'd hoped to not use on the man.

"You don't approve," the older woman commented.

Cam shrugged a shoulder in answer, her mind drawn back to the matter at hand; that of one Major Sheppard bringing a woman to the city, a priestess from a less civilised planet to be exact. The same planet, according to Sheppard, that the Wraith had attacked them above before a ball of energy had taken out the Wraith ships, leaving the small Ancient ship intact but for the damage inflicted by the Wraith.

"I don't approve or disapprove," the Tok'ra host answered. "I am just wary, Elizabeth." She shook her head tiredly. "I have been on enough missions to know what happens when a priestess is brought back to Tau'ri bases."

The woman nodded, moving to lean against the railing beside her. "But there is the opportunity for a treaty with Chaya's people," the politician pointed out. "We may get a weapon to combat the Wraith."

The Tok'ra rolled her eyes at that. "And that's different from the other planets?" she asked before she sighed, hanging her head tiredly. "I'll play nice, Elizabeth."

The brunette nodded, relaxing slightly. "That's all I can ask for."

The two women looked up at the sight of Stargate starting up, the Gate at the planet connecting to the City after a few seconds and Cam stood up straight as the Puddle Jumper came into through. The woman watched as the Gate deactivated before the Jumper settled on the Gate Room's floor, the ramp lowering and the majority of the team leaving.

Cam shook her head as she moved to the stairs. "I'll take care of the damn thing," she said as she waved to Sheppard in the front, nodding at the controls as she moved around the side to the back, watching as Rodney, Teyla and an unknown woman climbed out.

The Tok'ra walked into the Jumper as soon as they were out and tapped Sheppard on the shoulder, watching as the man jumped while Ford stared at her apprehensively.

"What are you doing here?" the Major asked her.

"Taking over," she answered. "You need to introduce the woman to Elizabeth. Hop to it, Major."

She gently shoved at the man until he stood up and left. Cam took his vacated seat, looking at Ford.

"I'll stay ma'am," he answered. "I need to pack the tac vests anyway."

Cam shook her head with a small smile but nodded, gripping the control joysticks of the Jumper before she shut the ramp and directed the Jumper into the air and up into the bay above the Gate Room. It took seconds for the Jumper to get into place and Cam did an inventory of the small ship.

"This Jumper took some bad hits," she said, looking up at the HUD as Ford moved to pack the team's tac vests away. "Weapons are off-line – not for a lack of trying apparently – and the cloak is completely fried." She shook her head, wincing. "It'll take some serious patch work to get this thing flight ready again and even then I'd be reluctant to let the thing out of my sight."

"What do you mean?" Ford asked from the back of the Jumper, the ramp already down.

Cam shook her head. "Just a couple of ideas running through my head," she said. "Ancient knowledge does funny things to the brain and that involves the creation of a lot of ideas with the available technology."

The Lieutenant paused and looked at her. "So, you had ideas when you were on Earth with the knowledge?" he asked.

The Tok'ra nodded at that, shutting down the Jumper. "Yes," she answered. "But, I could not allow myself the luxury of giving the knowledge access to fulfil them." She sighed and stood. "At least here in the City, I can try out some of them." She frowned and paused, schematics of both the Jumper and the various possible physical patches strong in the front of her mind. "Actually, Ford, I think I'll have a look at couple of those ideas now."

"Pardon ma'am?" Ford asked.

Cam rolled her eyes. "Go enjoy some downtime, Ford," she told him. "I have some work to get to."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Half an hour later John walked into the Jumper Bay, Chaya's hand nestled comfortably in the crook of his right elbow. "And this is the Jumper Bay," he told the priestess. "That ship we arrived in comes here to stay until needed. We have quite a few."

He frowned a moment later, seeing a figure underneath one of the Jumpers, a shirt discarded on the floor directly beneath it. The bay on the floor was empty, another team having taken it to the mainland for both some training and for R&R that he'd ordered. The Jumper that he'd piloted was in the bay above it and a figure appeared to be cursing and muttering as they worked. From the sound of things, it was either Latin or Egyptian.

"Hello?" John called as he motioned for Chaya to stay back as he moved away from her, his right hand drifting to his handgun.

Another curse filled the air before the figure became visible underneath the Jumper, revealing the greasy figure of Camilla Carter, wearing a grease-stained white vest and her Tok'ra trousers and boots, the shirt – now that John could see it clearer – was the typical Tok'ra shirt he'd gotten used to seeing on the woman.

"Major?" the head of the translations department asked, wiping at her face with her forearm. "What are you doing here?"

He relaxed, even as he saw her wiping more grease over her forehead, motioning for Chaya to join him. The woman came to him and he watched as Camilla's eyes snapped to the woman, her face blanking for a moment before she nodded.

"I was giving Chaya a quick tour," he told the Tok'ra as leapt over to the ladder near where she was before she climbed down the ladder. "Didn't know you'd be up here… working?"

The Tok'ra grinned at that. "I did an evaluation of the Jumper and had a couple of ideas I wanted to try out," she answered, reaching for a rag and wiping her hands. "I've been looking for an outlet for the last could of weeks. Seems the Ancient knowledge decided to give me a few tips on fixing the weapons and cloak." She shrugged, looking up at the Jumper above them all. "Got a little involved I think."

John chuckled, even as he felt Chaya's grip tighten for a second, worried. "Sorry," he said. "Chaya, this is Camilla Carter, our translator and all-round helper." He glanced at the Tok'ra, apology in his eyes – it had been the only thing he could think of to describe her – and she nodded once, whether in acceptance of acknowledgement he didn't know. "Camilla, this is Chaya, high priestess of Athar."

The woman seemed to smile slightly, extending a hand in greeting to Chaya. "Pleasure to meet you Chaya," she said. "But the Major hasn't introduced all of us." John winced at that. "I'm what the expedition calls a 'Tok'ra'. It means I'm a willing host to an alien entity. Her name is Kel'an."

Chaya took her hand and shook it like John had described to her, but the man noticed a faint, quick wince passing over the Tok'ra's face. "I am glad to meet you," she said slowly. "Both of you?"

Camilla chuckled softly, the two letting go at that point. "Kel'an is pleased to meet you, Chaya," she said softly. "She does not wish to startle you, so maybe, when you wish to meet her, I can properly introduce the two of you?"

The priestess nodded, relaxing. "I would like that," she said. "As would Athar."

Camilla nodded and looked back up at the Jumper, biting her lip for a moment before she looked back at them. "If you don't mind," she began, "I'm going to get back to what I was doing?"

John stepped back, nodding at the woman. "Go right ahead," he said. "Sorry to have interrupted you."

The woman chuckled as she moved to the ladder. "An interruption is something unwelcome, Sheppard," she told him as she started to climb up the ladder, moving quickly with a speed that he hadn't seen many men move at. "This was not unwelcome."

She moved up onto the metal beam beneath the Jumper, leaping quickly and lightly back under the Jumper, laughing lightly as she set to work.

"Actually, Sheppard," she called as they made to leave. "There's a wire cutter at the bottom of the ladder. Could you toss it up to me? Literally, please. I forgot I'd need it."

John saw it after a second and moved to do what the woman had said, gauging where she was before he threw it up at her. He saw her hand dart out and catch it.

"Thanks!" she called. "I'll leave you two to it."

A-A-A-A-A-A

It was the middle of the night when Cam next looked at her modified watch. The woman felt her eyes widening slightly at what she saw and she shook her head as she looked back up at the wiring of the Jumper.

_Wow, _she commented as she felt the Ancient Knowledge hum in her mind as she focused her gaze onto several of the wires above her head.

She heard a soft chuckle in her mind. **_Wow indeed, Camilla, _**Kel'an agreed, amused. **_I had not realised you were so focused on your work._**

Cam rolled her eyes as she toyed with the wire cutters in her left hand, her blue eyes quickly mapping the cables. She shifted and froze at the sound of another voice calling her name.

_So help me if that's Sheppard bringing his mystery woman up here to play hooky, _she grumbled as she rolled onto her stomach and looked at who had entered the bay. _If things in the Pegasus Galaxy weren't already different to those in the Milky Way, I would have sworn something was seriously wrong with Chaya. _She shook her head tiredly, resting her chin on one of her grease covered arms. _I wonder why I could sense her as an Ancient Gene carrier – someone with a really strong gene at that, Kel'._

Kel'an hummed in her mind, the sound quiet alongside the hum of the Ancient knowledge that had drifted off into the background now that she wasn't working. **_I know, _**she agreed. **_I felt it too, Cam. Just relax. She could be related to the Ancients for all we know._**

The host rolled her eyes at that. _I don't get the same from Sheppard or any of the others with the gene, _she pointed out. _I don't trust her._

Kel' snorted. **_You don't trust anyone, _**she muttered. **_It sounds, however, much like Rodney looking for you if the calls are anything to go by._**

The woman sighed and nodded, seeing the Canadian that couldn't see her from her vantage point above the man. "What do you want Rodney?" she called to the man.

He jumped violently, looking around himself before he paused and looked upwards. It took a few seconds for the man to find her but the Tok'ra host couldn't help the amused chuckle that left her as he glared at her.

"Don't do that!" he snapped at her.

Cam rolled her eyes as she slid her body into a crouch and leapt over towards the ladder before she climbed down. "What do you want, Rodney?" she repeated as she stood on the floor facing him.

The scientist walked over to her. "Do you think there's something wrong about Chaya?" he asked her quietly.

Cam crossed her arms and leaned back against the ladder. "And if I do?" she asked.

The man's shoulders sagged in mute relief. "If you do, then thank God!" he said. "I wouldn't be the only one." He shook his head. "You remember we found a control array in one of the labs?"

The woman nodded as she un-crossed her arms and stood from the ladder, moving to grab the dirty rag to clean her hands off. "I should," she answered. "I'm the one who found the thing. What of it?"

She looked at the Canadian as she reached for her leather Tok'ra jacket and slipped it on. "Well, she activated it," Rodney told her. "It turns out it's a biometric scanner of sorts."

As her hands moved along the clasps at her neck and right side, the woman tilted her head. "That hadn't been activated fully had it?" she asked, receiving a negative hum from the scientist. "So she's certainly an Ancient Gene carrier." She hummed herself in mild surprise. "Well, that answers a question I had."

"Should I even be asking?"

Cam chuckled as she finished. "Sheppard was giving Chaya a tour up in here when they came across me working," she told him. "Ever since Oma Desala spoke to me, Rodney, I've had a…. detector of sorts… I can sense Sheppard, you, all the other gene carriers when I am around them and this woman…"

"You could sense her," Rodney finished.

Cam nodded in answer, watching as Rodney looked at her for a few seconds before he nodded himself, thankfully not pressing her - yet - about her sudden ability to sense other gene carriers. "Can you leave your work alone for a few hours?" he asked.

The Tok'ra looked up at her work at the bottom of the Jumper before she nodded. "I think I can," she told him. "I will need to return and finish my work as well as clean up my mess before the other Jumper returns from the Mainland."

She followed the scientist when he turned and left, following him back into the Control Room and over to the new biometric scanner.

A-A-A-A-A-A

When ordinary people would have only just have been waking up, coffee in hand, Cam was sat in front of Rodney's laptop. She sat, looking at the readings as the scientist left to get Elizabeth, the woman now in her office.

The readings coming from the machine were telling her and Rodney that Chaya wasn't what she was portraying herself to be. The readings that the machine were giving them were telling her that the readings from Teyla, herself and the humans in the city were no match for Chaya, nor was Kel'an's readings and Cam leaned back in her seat.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Elizabeth asked as she was led over.

"No," Rodney answered.

"Oh Camilla!" Elizabeth said. "He didn't rope you into this did he?"

Cam looked over her shoulder at the woman. "Volunteered actually," she answered. "I was prepared to be proven wrong."

Elizabeth frowned as Rodney pointed to the Ancient machine then the data on the screen. "This is the data from the biometric scanners," he said. "I can't tell you exactly what all of those signatures mean, but look at this." He pointed to a list of signatures that Cam moved to bring up. "These are ours and that is Chaya's." Rodney shook his head. "There's a distinct difference.

"She was born on another planet in another galaxy," Elizabeth protested quietly.

Cam shook her head. "Different from Teyla, me and Kel'an," she told the woman. "She isn't what she's portraying herself to be."

"That doesn't mean-"

Cam stood and looked at the woman. "I want to believe the best of her, Elizabeth," she said. "I really do. But, following that talk with Oma Desala, I've been able to sense Ancient gene carriers throughout the City. I can sense Chaya without turning around."

"Elizabeth, if she's all that she appears to be and the two of us are paranoid, there is a way we can check it out," Rodney said after a moment. "You're opening negotiations this morning with her, right? Let us sit in, I'll pretend to be taking notes when I'll really be scanning her for anomalies. That way, if we're both nuts, then we're the only ones who know."

Elizabeth sighed and nodded reluctantly. "Alright," she said. "But both of you, please, be discreet."

Cam nodded and glanced at her watch, cursing under her breath as she stood. "Excuse me," she said. "I have a Jumper to finish fixing. I'll try and be on time, but don't worry if I'm late."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam was only a few minutes late to the briefing, she'd spent the last hour or so cleaning up the Jumper Bay. It had taken the last hour to finish the work on the Jumper, the last of the patches having worked. As such, the Tok'ra came in to the main briefing room halfway through a conversation.

"I hand-picked every member of this expedition," Elizabeth was saying firmly. "And I know Teyla feels as confident about her own people."

Chaya nodded, even as she turned slightly in her seat, frowning as she looked at Cam. Cam returned the woman's slight frown as she felt her brain ache slightly before it passed. The Tok'ra smiled at everyone, feeling Kel' in her mind, searching for the source of the ache.

"Sorry I'm late," she said softly, walking around to join Rodney, sitting calmly and looking at the man's laptop screen and reading the readings on screen in a single glance. "I've only just finished my repairs and cleaned up."

Elizabeth nodded as she looked at Chaya. "At the end of the day, this is a matter of trust, Chaya," she said.

The high priestess nodded, looking at the leader of the expedition. "Yes," she said. "It is Dr. Weir." She turned slightly and looked at Rodney as the Tok'ra saw him looking at the screen again, the readings showing absolutely nothing at all. "Have your scans found anything yet, Dr. McKay?"

Cam arched an eyebrow at the woman. _How did she know? _Cam asked her symbiote, hearing the scientist stuttering slightly as he closed his laptop. _No one overhead us talking about this._

**_Your guess is as good as mine,_** her friend answered, even as she watched Sheppard snap at the Canadian beside her.

"I'm sorry, Major," Elizabeth told him. "There was legitimate concern as to-"

"Whether I was or not who I claimed to be," Chaya calmly interrupted and finished for her.

Elizabeth nodded. "I'm sorry, Chaya," she said. "I honestly felt it would do no harm."

Cam frowned as she looked at the woman. "What I want to know is how she knew, Elizabeth," she said.

She would never tell the woman to not apologise, but the Tok'ra was genuinely curious as to how the woman had discovered.

"Carter!" the Major snapped at her.

She moved her gaze to the pilot, feeling Kel'an barely controlling her anger and desire to take over, knowing that her eyes were glowing slightly with the internal struggle. The woman knew her symbiote was angry, justifiably since the Major had acted in such a way that had their visitor been someone more malicious, the City would have been breached by his lack of sense.

"She's an Ancient, Major," Rodney snapped out, standing as Cam continued to look at the man.

"She's what?" the man asked, stumped by the apparent side conversation.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Rodney asked Chaya calmly. "The perfect health; the energy weapon; the fact that you have the gene; the fact that you set off Camilla's 'Ancient Detector'." He looked at the woman calmly. "It's the only logical explanation."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sheppard asked.

Cam rolled her eyes, still glowing slightly although they were dimmer slightly now. "If it is true," she said, "then I don't understand the act of high priestess. If you are an Ancient, you of all people must know how much we'd give anything to talk to you, learn from you." She felt Kel'an finally clamp down on the anger and the glow disappeared slowly. "Even I would, Chaya, with everything that is happening to me. But why? Why come here? And keep yourself a secret from us? Just so you could come here and look at us, like some kind of specimen meant to be looked at."

The woman sighed. "I see that in my desire to come to Atlantis," she said quietly, "I have revealed too much of myself."

Elizabeth started at that. "They're right?" she asked.

"We're right?" Rodney asked.

Chaya nodded once. "I am what you call an 'Ancient'," she said. "And it is true that I can never offer your people sanctuary… But you are wrong as to why I came here." The last part was directed at Cam who took the woman's glare calmly, ignoring it.

"Why did you come here?" Sheppard asked.

"You, John," she answered.

With that, Rodney sat. "Oh, my God," he breathed. "He is Kirk."

Cam stood at that. "If you don't mind, I'll leave," she said firmly. "I have translations to get through and I have a department to run."

With that, she left, walking calmly down the large and ornate steps of the Gate Room, ignoring the calls from the others drifting along behind her.

A-A-A-A-A-A

John had found Proculis' temple practically abandoned but for Chaya, the woman dressed in more ornate clothes than what she had worn in the City or when he'd first met her. Shaking his head as he parked the Jumper in it's relative bay, John found his mind automatically going to both Rodney and Camilla, the acts of both turning his once calm mood into something close to anger and rage mixed into one.

The calm he'd held on to since he and Chaya had exchanged knowledge had lasted only as long as he thought of Atlantis, of her, in the City's prime, alive with Ancients, powered by Zero Point Modules that the Ancients almost over created during the war to keep the City alive. John's thoughts had turned somewhat depressing at the thought of how the City was now, full of like yet also lacking and he couldn't help but wish things were different.

As he deftly shut the Jumper down and left, John mused through what to do and he lket his anger guide him through the corridors of the City in search of the room that had been given to the translations department, the one that Camilla ran after asking for more people to take over some of the translations. So, when he neared the room, he frowned at the sight of eleven people leaving the room, all of them in states ranging from relaxed to almost panicked.

The pilot stopped a passing woman. "What's with you all leaving the department?" he asked her quietly.

The woman shrugged. "The head of the department told us it was alright to leave early," she answered. "We're still learning Ancient so we're working part time." The woman seemed to pause. "Actually, she shouted at us to leave; I think she's had a bad day."

John nodded and let the woman go, watching as the entire lot left. He still had to give Carter a fair bit of his mind, a lot of it and he was still ticked over her and Rodney going over his head. He walked calmly into the room.

"I thought I told you to **GET OUT**!" Camilla shouted, her voice changing to mimic Kel'an's voice when she was in control.

It took John only a second to find the woman where she sat by a table, her body hunched over, tense with anger.

He paused at that, looking at the woman in mild surprise; he hadn't expected her to shout as loud as she had, nor had he expected Kel'an to join in like she apparently had. "First time I heard about that," he said.

John watched as Camilla's shoulders hunched further. "I didn't expect you to come down here, Major," she said before she turned to look at him.

He saw the exhaustion on her face. "Wanted to talk to you after what you did," he told her.

Camilla rolled her eyes. "If that's all, then go elsewhere Sheppard," she told him firmly. "I have five translations due for Rodney in three hours, another seven for Zelenka and I have a further ten for various others throughout the expedition." She shook her head. "If all you're here to talk about is over something as childish as your ego being bruised over everyone _else _worrying about a possible threat to this expedition, then leave me alone." She glared at him. "I have neither time nor patience to deal with the concerns of children."

When she turned away John growled. "You should have told me!" he snarled at her. "I am the leader of the military and the safety here."

He heard her sigh as she turned back to look at him. "I am sorry, _Major,_" she returned sarcastically. "Dr. McKay brought his concerns to you and, as I am lead to believe, you brushed his concerns to one side. Even Teyla, apparently had her own misgivings on your actions in regards to the Ancient Chaya." He saw the woman pick up a ceramic mug, holding it in her hands. "The fact that she was able to activate the biometric scanner console should have clued you in, Sheppard." She looked at him. "I am sorry that your _feelings _were _not _taken into consideration when Rodney and I focused on protecting the City. Much like you should have been doing."

Anger boiled through him at that. "You should have told me-!" he began.

Before he could continue further, the ceramic mug the Tok'ra had been holding moments before shattered against the wall behind John. The woman glared at him, her chest heaving as she seemed to struggle to control herself, her hands clenched into fists as her entire body seemed to shake with barely restrained anger.

"You egotistical jerk," she snarled out. "You self-centred, cocky bastard. What do you think Rodney tried to do?! You were obviously thinking with the wrong damn brain for you not to realise what he was talking about."

John watched her turn away and grip the table, even as he did his best to smother his anger and rage. "If that is all you came for, Major," she said, "then do leave. I have work to get to." The pilot watched as her entire body tensed. "Good day, _Major_. I believe you know where the door is."

Seeing her Staff Weapon only a few short feet away from the woman was enough of an incentive for John to turn and leave, the doors sliding shut with a firm snap and hiss behind him.

* * *

_"Home is your sanctuary." Daria Werbowy_

_"The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise." Tacitus_

* * *

Response to reviews/reviewers:

**Incognito**: It's nice to here from you again. I'm glad you can understand why I went the route I did with Peterson and I hope that this chapter was interesting enough for you. I look forward to reading your opinion on the plot/ characters so far.


	12. Chap 11: Before I Sleep

Happy New Year everyone from my corner in the UK!

I can only apologize for breaking my promise to you all in trying to get this chapter out sooner. First, I had the Christmas rush to get through, then the day that I had set aside to actually publish this chapter out to you all, the website crashed spectacularly in that I could look around but not log in or respond to reviews. It was very annoying, but now I've logged in and I want you all to read this before anything else goes crazy!

Standard Disclaimer is standard. Anyone you don't recognise or research as belonging to MGM and the Stargate franchise is mine. Though, I do admit, finding a way to get Ronon Dex and/or John Sheppard to my place is high on my list of priorities.

* * *

I wish to remind people that there is an ongoing poll on who everyone thinks Camilla should get together with. If you go and click my penname at the top of this page, the poll is right at the top of my bio, so have a vote and I'll take a look. While I have promised at least one pairing to a reader, I will take all comments/poll votes seriously and consider how to work in a relationship – a friendship at the least – into the story.

I do want to thank those of you who have either voted on my page or through your reviews; to say the least, it's very interesting to see where everyone's opinions lie.

* * *

**Chapter 11: Before I Sleep, I Need To Tell You Something…**

Practically three weeks to the day that Chaya arrived and also abrupty left, found Camilla Carter in her comparatively small office, the Tok'ra having taken up almost permanent residence in the office. Following Sheppard's attempt at a reprimand, she had kept to herself, staying away from the others as she dealt with the tasks dealt to her as head of a newly formed department. Her brother had been the only constant visitor outside of the hours she slowly and patiently trained the new members of the newly created Translation Department.

Outside of the visits from Martouf and Lantash, both Camilla and Kel'an had outlined a fast track course for those in the department to teach them all comprehensive, useful Ancient while also allowing them to translate various texts being sent to the Tok'ra every day. The work had been delegated between the eleven other members in the department while Camilla had started to keep a highly unorthodox sleeping and working pattern.

That was all the other, leading, members of the expedition had been able to learn about the Tok'ra as she worked, the majority of them surprisingly not wanting to push the woman's anger levels too much further.

Inside her office, Cam sighed as she sat back in her seat, looking at the translation in front of her, grateful that the last one she was working on for the morning was relatively easy. She took a contemplative sip of warm coffee from the metal cup, her right hand absently twirling the stylus for the datapad she was working on, knowing that her own people had the day off considering it was a 'Saturday' as well as the fact that she had ordered her department to take the day off to just relax, a break from all the lessons they were enduring.

**_You really should work them harder, kid, _**Kel'an muttered. **_We don't have the time to pamper them._**

Cam rolled her eyes at that, twirling her stylus as she translated one of the many texts that had come in the day before. _Yeah, _she answer. _I do that and there'll be a revolt and the entire department will be broken down back into the pieces it was before I asked Elizabeth for help._

Her symbiote chuckled mirthlessly in her mind. **_Go ahead then, kid, _**she said. **_I won't argue against your logic._**

Rolling her eyes again, Cam barely had time to think of a retort before she started slightly at the chime coming from the door to the room. The Tok'ra hadn't locked it, knowing at least one person would want to come in for some extra work, and she wondered who was being cautious at the door. "Come in," she called.

Cam watched as the door slid open with another chime, revealing Sheppard and the woman found herself tensing, moving to return her attention to the translation, fully intent on looking like she was busier than she was to get him out.

"I've got work, Major," she told him tersely.

The man snorted as he walked over, moving carefully around the various tables from the slow pace of his shoes on the hard floor. "You gave all your people the day off," he said. "You can take a few minutes."

The woman sighed at his logic, nodding as she put the stylus down and turned to face the man that had moved a lot closer, almost standing beside her. As was usual for him when he was staying in the city and not going off on a mission, he still wore base uniform without the tac-vest but a thigh holster with a hand gun at the ready.

She leaned back in her seat, watching as the man drew one up, moving carefully as he held a bag in his left hand. "What can I do for you, Major?" she asked politely, sipping her coffee quietly.

He shrugged. "Call me John," he said, bringing an eyebrow arch from the woman. "Humour me. Please?"

Cam nodded once at that. "What can I do for you, _John_?" she asked.

The man grinned at her before he reached for the bag, rooting around inside it for a moment. "I still don't agree with what you and Rodney did," he began, "but I'm sorry for my part of it." He drew out an object wrapped loosely in a dark cloth. "This is my apology to you, as well as a birthday gift – late as it is. I didn't find out until recently."

Cam took it when he held it out to her, frowning at the mention of her birthday – she was going to ignore his first comment for now. "My birthday was close to nine months ago. Technically, it's not for another three and a half," she said, looking at him as she unconsciously crossed her legs. "How did you find out?"

_John_'s grin was unrepentant as he nodded to the gift. "I was on the mainland a few days ago and got this from the Athosians," he told her. "They were happy to make it for me when I asked."

The Tok'ra looked at him for a moment longer before she set her coffee down and took the gift in both hands. She held it for a moment before she carefully unwrapped it, lifting and pulling down one folded corner of cloth, repeating that for all the others she came across until she was looking at her gift in its entirety.

Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of the Egyptian-style jar that was in her hands. It look much like the jars used in the Egyptian tradition of mummifying the human body, but instead of the Anubis dog head as Cam knew was traditional, it was a simple clay lid that covered it. It was a lovely balance – even with the Egyptian hieroglyphs painstaking etched into the surface – of the old and the new and Cam loved it as she traced the words with a small smile.

She could easily read the old Egyptian words for friend, traveller and family and it touched her heart. She felt her sensitive fingertips easily discerning the depth of the words, feeling the halting gestures used that told her someone who wasn't used to writing in the old language had made an effort.

"…So?" John asked quietly.

The woman looked up at him, startled, but still smiling. "I love it," she told him. "Thank you!"

Cam saw his answering grin. "Well, I did have to finish a bit of it when the Athosians didn't understand," he said before he looked at her, tilting his head slightly. "You want to join me on an excursion out into the city?"

A-A-A-A-A-A

John sighed as he walked through the dim Ancient corridors. He, Ford, Teyla and Camilla had worked their way through the residential section of the city he'd decided to go through. Rodney was back up in the City, keeping watch from the new bio-metric scanner, calibrating the new system.

Camilla had seen some Ancient text early on in the excursion, pausing long enough to translate it and let them know where they were. That had been an hour ago and they had just finished.

John tapped his radio and heard it buzz to life. "Alright," he said, hefting his P-90 calmly. "We're done with the living quarters. Moving on."

_"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" _Rodney called over the radio as John calmly walked down the corridor. _"Before you go, you see anything better than our current quarters?"_

John sighed. "A few," he answered. "Some of them are pretty nice actually."

_"Well, what kind of square footage as we talking about?" _the scientist asked.

John paused for a moment before he shook his head, frowning. "What am I, your realtor, Rodney?!" he asked, slightly amused. "We're here to unlock the secrets of Atlantis."

_"Fine then, I'll ask Cam then," _the man responded. _"Cam? How are things looking there?"_

John heard the woman snort as she shone her torch around the corridor, her eyes flicking from one feature to the next, taking in all the sights as they walked, using her Staff Weapon to lean against as she walked. "Atlantis, Rodney," she reminded him. "But, admittedly, some good spots here. Why? What you looking for specifically?"

John looked at her. "Whatever for?" he asked her.

"I can keep an eye out, let Elizabeth know so she can take it first," the Tok'ra responded, grinning.

_"Oh, well…" _the scientist stuttered. _"I'm looking for a one-bedroom with a den, preferably with a balcony, but I'm not married to it."_

John heard the man rambling on as he saw Ford standing at a doorway, peering inside. "Sir!" he called. "Check this out."

"Shut up Rodney!" Camilla ordered as they moved to join him, running as Teyla came up behind them.

John peered inside the dark room and nodded once at Ford, the two men going inside first, the lights activating the moment the pilot set foot inside.

_"What?" _Rodney asked. _"What is it?"_

"Some sort of laboratory," Teyla answered.

Rodney scoffed for a moment. _"We've come across dozens of those," _he said. _"The city's full of them. Something unusual about this one?"_

John walked towards a console past a flat surface in the middle of the room, ignoring the consoles all around the edge of it. The console he was focused on was small, just past the end of the fat table, looking rather innocuous. More lights came on as he waved his hand over it and John watched as an upright capsule at the end of the room suddenly lit itself up, revealing a woman inside.

She wore a long white dress and the woman herself appeared to be elderly from the way her face appeared to be wrinkled.

"I'd have to say," John began, "yes."

"Rodney," Camilla spoke firmly. "Alert Dr. Weir and Dr. Beckett, I have a feeling we're going to need them down here."

"Oh," John added. "Might as well bring yourself down here as well."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam sighed as she ran a hand through her long hair, the length quickly becoming unmanageable for her. "How is the translation coming?" she heard John ask her as he walked over.

The Tok'ra sighed again and gestured at the datapad plugged into the Ancient machine. "Slowly," she answered. "I'm not getting much from the small datapad. If Rodney's bringing his laptop, I can get more information then."

"Limited access?" he asked.

She shrugged a shoulder at that. "I can better, easier access through a laptop than a datapad," she answered, running a hand absently through her hair as she started translating the small amount of Ancient she had managed to get on the screen. "But, what I have got is that this lab here is a stasis room. Much like the one we found back on Earth."

"On Earth?" she heard Ford ask.

She turned, rolling her eyes. "The then 'Colonel' O'Neill, as well as myself, took the Ancient knowledge into our minds," she began, remembering the second time her head had been grabbed, "after several long hours, one day-long trip to an old Ancient outpost in the Milky Way galaxy, we came back to Earth, found the Ancient tower in the ice."

John frowned as she continued on. "The Ancient knowledge re-writes the human brain," he began, interrupting her quietly. "General O'Neill didn't have any way of stopping it, so he put himself into the stasis chamber by the chair."

Cam smiled slightly, nodding. "Yes," she answered. "The knowledge was removed by the Asgard."

"Why didn't they take it out of you, ma'am?" Ford asked.

Cam chuckled at that, leaning back in her seat. "The woman I had grown to be would have disappeared, Lieutenant," she answered. "Because of Kel'an, the knowledge's expansionist deigns on my brain have been kept at bay, but it has also forged what I am. If the knowledge were to be removed now, I wouldn't remember anything of the last eight years."

She saw both men and Teyla start at that, even as she returned her attention to the limited Ancient she could see and began to mouth the words unconsciously, her mind automatically beginning the translation process. It was roughly then that Elizabeth, Rodney and Carson decided to walk in.

Cam didn't move, but took the laptop that Rodney carried in with him, ignoring what he said to her as she plugged it in and worked on copying the data and began the slow process of translating the text.

"Well," Rodney said, his voice interrupting her translation minutes later. "We could stand here looking at her all day. What we've got to do is get her out of this box."

"Rodney, we can nae take the chance!" Carson complained. "Look at her, she's at least a hundred years old."

"Which is why every single second counts!" the scientist returned. "I mean, she could drop dead while we stand here arguing."

"How could she drop dead?" John asked. "You said she was frozen."

"Metabolic stasis," Cam told him, not looking up from her work as she frowned, looking at the words in front of her. "Ageing process is slowed considerably, but not suspended. Technically frozen, it's just without the cold."

"You are saying this woman is still alive?" Teyla asked.

"Yes," Rodney, Carson and Cam commented at the same time before Cam winced.

**_I did not need to think of the three of you as close relatives, _**Kel' complained in her mind. **_You all certainly sounded like brothers and sister! Certainly unwilling from your own memories if I am correct._**

Cam winced at that. _Thanks, Kel', _she muttered. _I needed that image just as much as you did._

Her closest friend grinned, unrepentant, in her mind. **_You're welcome!_**

"Lifesigns systems indicate viability," Rodney continued.

Cam nodded at that, looking at the data on screen. "According to this, it says she first went in ten thousand years ago," she told them before frowning. "Came out on two separate occasions, three point three thousand years apart, from what I can tell."

"Ten thousand years?" she heard Ford exclaim, stuck on the first part of her words.

"Doesn't look a day over nine thousand," John commented.

"She'll continue to age at a very slow rate until she dies," Rodney said calmly, "which, judging by the look of her, seems more likely to occur sooner rather than later – which brings me back to my original point."

Carson sighed. "Look at her," he said. "She's so old I'm afraid the process of reviving here migh' actually kill her."

"We cannot let this chance to talk to a living, breathing Ancient slip through our fingers," Rodney argued. "Again."

Cam didn't need to see the Canadian to know he was throwing John a sour look, a look that the pilot would easily return. "And who knows what state of mind she'll be in?" Carson returned. "Not to mention the fact that she might be carrying some horrifying contagion."

"And who knows what she knows about our city?" Rodney threw at him. "More importantly, does she know about any Zed.P.M.s lying around?"

John hummed at that. "Ah," he said. "There's a thought."

A few seconds passed in relative silence. "Revive her," Elizabeth ordered.

"But…" Carson began.

"It's my call," the head of the expedition told him.

Cam heard Rodney walk over to her, joining her in looking at the screen. "Anything?" he asked.

The Tok'ra nodded as she pointed to a series of Ancient commands. "I can wake her up," she said. "It'll take some careful coding, but I can."

"Can you get it ready in an hour lass?" Carson asked her, stepping over to join them.

Cam nodded after a moment and began to work, typing in the commands. "Just tell me when," she said, "and I'll have it ready and waiting."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Rodney nodded at Camilla when he was sure that Carson had everything he needed to deal with the 'frozen' Ancient. The Tok'ra nodded in return and tapped a key on the laptop and Rodney turned his head to look at the stasis chamber, watching as the 'ice' disappeared from view and he moved with Carson to catch her as she began to fall.

"Easy," the Scot muttered. "Easy. Let's get her to the table Rodney."

The two of them moved quickly, John and Ford moving to help them lift her up onto the bed. Rodney glanced at Camilla, watching as she nodded at some information on the screen before she relaxed and shut the laptop down, closing the lid and unplugging it from the Ancient technology in seconds.

"Breathing shallow," Carson reported after a few seconds. "Pulse rapid." He sighed. "I'll run an EGG to determine any brain activity."

Camilla walked over then, holding the laptop firmly in one hand, cables wrapped carefully around her left shoulder to keep them out of the way. "What's in her hand?" the woman asked, nodding at the old woman between them.

Rodney looked down and saw something inside the Ancient's clenched hand. He moved carefully, gently slipping it out from her hand, frowning as he realised it was a slip of crumpled paper and he carefully unfolded it, well aware that the others were watching him.

"It's Gate addresses," he answered after a moment, recognising the symbols and the order of them. "Five of them. Actually, one's M7G-677 – we've already been to this planet."

If these were what he thought they were, then they were in luck!

A-A-A-A-A-A

With the familiar weight of the laptop in one hand, Cam froze at the sight of the woman's eyes opening slowly. "Uh, guys?" she asked, pointing calmly at the Ancient.

"Hello?" Elizabeth asked. "Can you hear me?"

The Ancient didn't respond and didn't seem to react. "Yeah," Rodney muttered. "That's what I was afraid of." He moved to wave his hand in front of the woman's open eyes. "Freezer burn."

Cam rolled her eyes. "I thought she wasn't frozen?" Ford asked.

"Ten thousand years," Carson muttered, "D'y' expect her t' dance a bloody jig?!"

"It's all in the eyes, Carson," Rodney said. "You look at the eyes."

Cam snorted. "And hers are focusing on your hand, Rodney," she told him, her trained eyes easily seeing the slight movement of the eyes of the Ancient.

Rodney saw it a moment later as she turned her head slightly to look at him and the scientist froze, jumping slightly in surprise.

"Oh course she can see us," Elizabeth said, smiling slightly, even as the woman's head moved to look at her. "And hear us. Hello. How are you feeling?"

The woman tried to smile weakly and Cam realised then that there was a window in the room, looking out on the city where the sky was visible on one of the many sunny days that the City had. "It…worked," the woman managed.

A-A-A-A-A-A

It was late that day, hours after lunch that Cam was called to the briefing room. She made it to the room after the meeting had started and she heard two words that had her pause for a second in the doors.

"Time travel?"

Ford; the lieutenant, as wise as he was about war and fighting, the 'boy' had no idea about everything that the Stargate programme had offered humanity.

"That's what she said," Elizabeth told him. "She somehow found a way to travel back in time to when the Ancients inhabited the city."

"How did she do this?" Teyla asked as Cam moved slowly into the room.

The Tok'ra sat heavily then, sighing. "Has she told you, Elizabeth?" she asked.

The woman shook her head. "It's one of the first questions that I will ask when she wakes up again," she answered. "Why?"

Cam shook her head, absently running a hand through her hair. "Well, let's not be too quick to exclude the possibility that the woman might be…umm…" Rodney hummed. "What is the clinical term? Nuts."

Elizabeth snorted and shook her head. "She may be senile, yes, but that doesn't explain that she knows so much about all of us," she said.

"Is time travel even possible?" Ford asked.

"Well," Rodney began, "according to Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, there's nothing in the laws of physics to prevent it. Extremely difficult to achieve, mind you - you need the technology to manipulate black holes to create wormholes not only through points in space but time."

Cam shook her head at that. "If it's accidental travel, then it doesn't have to manipulate time, Rodney," she told him. "The Stargates don't affect time, at all, unless a solar flare is involved."

Teyla frowned while Rodney once in grudging agreement. "I'm sorry?" she asked. "I do not understand."

Rodney and Cam shared a look before the scientist nodded and gestured at the Tok'ra. "In the second year of the Stargate Programme on Earth," she began quietly, "SG-1 was sent on a mission to one world. There was a flare of solar energy from our sun at the same moment we went through the Gate. Instead of going to the planet, we were sent back in time by close to forty years and we had the task of getting back to the time we had left." She sighed, shaking her head as she leaned back in her seat. "We had six days, a Stargate, two car batteries and three solar flares to travel back through time."

"So what you really need is a really nice DeLorean?" John asked.

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Don't even get me started on that movie!" he said.

John looked at him. "I liked that movie!" he responded.

Cam looked up as Carson hurried into the room, clutching a tablet close to him as he stopped at the doorway. "The results of the DNA test," he said hurriedly as he looked at them. "It's a match." Carson looked at Elizabeth as he walked over and handed her the tablet. "She is you."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Elizabeth looked down at her older self, the woman lying asleep in the medical bed, seeing the cameras that recorded her every move, every gesture. The woman had been in stasis for ten thousand years, released only every few to do something to the City. She heard the doors to the private room hiss open and someone walk in, the footsteps sounding far too loud for who she thought it might be.

"I've just spent the last hour talking to Rodney," Camilla told her, moving up behind her. "We've spent that time going over the computers in the chamber, Elizabeth, all because the Canadian had one question: why didn't the City try and wake her up when we first got here?"

Elizabeth hummed, not looking at the Tok'ra. "I was wondering," she admitted.

"Well, the City did," the younger woman said. "Rodney correlated the respective data and it appears that the City tried to do just that." It was then that Elizabeth tore her gaze from the older version of her in the medical bed. "Rodney said that the first thing we noticed upon our arrival was a sudden spike of energy in the stasis chamber's lab. The City was _trying _to revive her as best it could when we didn't know that. Rodney shut everything down, seeing the spike as a drain on the ZPM, instead he almost killed her… You…" The Tok'ra shook her head. "Okay, I'm still trying to wrap my head around that. How weird is that?"

Elizabeth chuckled softly, nodding. "Very, very weird," she agreed. "Looking at yourself, how you will be."

Camilla shook her head and moved to her side slightly, moving so that the older woman could see her better, even as she bowed her head, her eyes closed. **"Elizabeth, you will look very different from how she appears now," **Kel'an told her, lifting her head to look at the head of the expedition.

Elizabeth would never admit it, but speaking with Kel'an always left her feeling like a child, like she had always done something wrong despite being older than the host. She doubted Kel'an meant to, but it was an unconscious act the symbiote used as she spoke to others.

**"The moment she went back in time, Elizabeth, she created a new, separate timeline and reality," **Kel'an continued calmly. **"In that separate reality, she exists. Well, that is according to human theories on quantum physics." **The Tok'ra chuckled then and Elizabeth frowned.

"What's so funny?" she asked the Tok'ra.

Kel'an shook her head, waving her left hand slightly. **"More entertaining than anything, Elizabeth," **the Tok'ra answered. **"Rodney explained one of the many theories of the universe humans hold: that the universe itself is made up of an infinite number of copies of itself where every possible decision to every outcome has been made exists somewhere out in the infinitely layered multi-verse."**

Elizabeth chuckled at that, amused. "Simply put," she commented.

Kel'an chuckled again. **"Indeed," **she said. **"Though I believe Rodney's description would have lasted longer."**

The leader of the expedition smiled and nodded in agreement, even as the older version of herself roused in the medical bed. "Elizabeth?" she rasped out, her voice old.

Elizabeth nodded and stepped closer.

"There's so much to tell you," Weir said. "The note… I had a note."

Kel'an nodded and stepped closer herself, bowing her head politely. **"We found your note," **she said politely.

Weir nodded and Elizabeth sighed. "You want to hear about what happened?" she asked and Elizabeth nodded slightly. "There was an accident," Weir began. "I remember we arrived through the Stargate. The lights came on by themselves, sensing our presence. The city slowly awoke. But as we explored, power only worked in the air and in the lights. Nothing else."

Elizabeth frowned, an expression that was mirrored by the Tok'ra standing beside her. **"Forgive me ma'am," **she said. **"But that is not what happened. Everything came online when we arrive. Reports indicated that lights, computer, power control systems, everything came online. Even Rodney was able to access the database immediately."**

Weir shook her head. "That's not what happened," she said tiredly. "Not the first time."

Elizabeth watched as her older counterpart fell asleep, her head falling carefully to one side.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam rolled her shoulders as she waited in the conference room a short hour later, three datapads lying on the small section of the table she allowed herself. Once more, she found herself struggling to keep on top of the translations that so many required throughout the city.

Her only comfort was that Rodney was close by to receive his 'important' translations and leave her to work on the rest. In the few short hours she had been awake, more had come in from around the city where she knew various members were exploring for the day. Tiredly, Cam ran a hand through her hair, brushing the worst strands back before she returned to her work, hearing the others walk in, including her brother as he sat down on her right.

"I see you have been busy," Martouf commented quietly.

Cam rolled her eyes and scratched out an incorrect translation, quickly replacing it with a clearer one and sent it off to Rodney's datapad along with another three. "I'm head of a new department, Marty," she said quietly as John sat down near her. "Being busy is part of the job description."

"Incompetence?" she heard the pilot on her left ask as she paused, once again twirling her stylus absently.

Cam looked up at him, leaning back in the chair and shook her head tiredly. "Just some of the people in the department are still new to translating." She shook her head and once again ran a hand through her hair. "If I'm asleep before 13 at night tonight, I _will _be surprised."

John and Martouf frowned. "How bad?" the former asked.

The female Tok'ra host gestured to the Ancient she had been working on. "Have a go," she told the pilot. "Even you should be able to get a basic gist down – the letters at the very least!"

She wordlessly handed the man the stylus she had been twirling and turned her attention to another, thankfully simple, translation. In the short time it took for her to read the text and begin to analyse it, John had returned the datapad and stylus to her, sliding it along the table to her.

Cam paused and picked up the tablet, leaning back in her seat to read the rough Ancient words – written in English – that had been written carefully and with forethought. She grinned at the fact it _wasn't_ rough, rather it was more detailed than that and she looked at John.

"Ever considered joining the translations department?" she asked him. "You've done far better than any of the people I've taught."

She saw the light flush as the pilot shrugged. "I prefer flying," he answered. "Languages were never really my strong suit."

Cam chuckled at that, even as she felt Kel' nudge gently at her mind. "One moment," she said.

She sat up and bowed her head, letting her oldest friend take control. Kel'an lifted her head after a moment, rolling her shoulders with a relieved sigh.

**"Languages may not be your 'strong suit', Major," **she said. **"But you are eminently better than some of the expedition members my host has tried to educate in these past few weeks."**

At the sound of wheelchair on the move, everyone, including Rodney looked to the entrance and Kel'an smiled at the sight of the elder Elizabeth being escorted in by both Carson and Elizabeth, the younger. Kel'an took a moment to notice that Teyla, Ford and Rodney had taken seats.

"Seeing the city like this, sitting on the surface of the ocean," Weir said, unconsciously smoothing the blanket over lap. "You can't imagine how relieved I am."

"What are you saying?" Rodney asked as he stood and moved around the table, closer to the woman. "The city didn't rise the first time round?"

Weir shook her head. "No, no," she answered. "The city was in serious trouble the very moment we arrived." She sighed, taking a breath and Kel'an noticed that her slightly clouded eyes easily fell to rest on each and everyone one of them. "We managed to get power to the consoles and Colonel Sumner asked that Major Sheppard and I join him in looking out over the city, to see that it was underwater." Weir shook her head. "Parts of the city were already flooding, the shields failing. Rodney tried everything he could, but one of Sumner's teams had requested his presence. When I tried to call him back, the shield failed where he was and he didn't manage to get out of the area before…"

Kel'an felt her face fall. **"Colonel Sumner drowned?" **she asked.

Weir nodded and Kel'an could not help the muttered curse under her breath, scrubbing at her face. Somehow it seemed a worse fate than what the Wraith had done to the man.

"And he wasn't the only one to perish," Weir continued sadly. "Major Sheppard suggested that we evacuate through the Stargate – we couldn't, there wasn't enough power. Too much of it was being drained by the shield and our arrival. I had been told of a bay of spaceships and I told Major Sheppard as much. He went to check the bay out while I dealt with the people in the control room, hoping that I could somehow help."

Kel'an looked at the woman, tilting her head. **"And what of us, of my host, my brother Tok'ra?" **she asked gently.

Weir looked at them both, tears already forming in her eyes. "Martouf had gone down into the tower to search," she answered. "He did not go as far as Colonel Sumner, but the shields failed only a few minutes after Sumner died." She looked apologetically at the Tok'ra. "Martouf, host to Lantash, drowned as he struggled to get the group of men following him to safety. Kel'an, you and Camilla were with me, struggling to help Rodney and Grodin in the control room when you heard about your brother."

Kel'an stood shakily and moved to the nearest window, looking out on the water as she held herself. **"Please, ma'am," **she said stiffly, trying to control Camilla's emotions that surged through her at the thought of what had happened. **"Continue. Do not worry about us."**

Weir nodded. "I received word not long after that Major Sheppard had contacted Dr. Zelenka in regard to the ship he had found and I joined him," she continued, plucking at the blanket over her lap. "Camilla came with as well, giving up on her translations when it showed only letters and words that Rodney had already deciphered. We had only just arrived when we heard word that the Control Room was beginning to flood. Rodney told us that he could not get to us and he remained in the room as he tried to open the bay doors." Weir took a heavy breath. "Despite your efforts, there was nothing you could do, Rodney," she said, looking at the man. "Within seconds the Control Room was flooded."

Kel'an looked at the scientist, watching as he sat down slowly. "I died?!" he asked.

Weir nodded slowly at him. "You never gave up trying, right until the end," she told him.

Kel'an took a deep breath, sensing Martouf standing and placing a hand on her shoulder gently as the female Tok'ra easily saw what had happened to the men. In response, she reached up a hand and patted his in silence. She didn't dare speak, not when Camilla's heartfelt emotions were so close to the surface.

"Well," Rodney said quietly. "A man wonders how he would choose to go out, given such dire circumstances." He nodded almost to himself. "Now I now."

"Trying to save the lives of others," Weir agreed.

Before Sheppard could open his mouth to say anything against Rodney – which she was guessing he would – she kicked his chair firmly. The man turned to look at her as she shook her head in answer.

"Why didn't the failsafe mechanism engage and raise the city?" Elizabeth asked.

Weir shook her head sadly. "Because there was no failsafe the first time," she answered. "Atlantis remained on the ocean floor. The shield completely collapsed. Water came crashing in, flooding every room in the city." She looked at Ford and Carson then. "You both drowned while attempting to get our people into ships." She took a shuddering breath and looked at Sheppard. "And we, along with Dr. Zelenka, we found ourselves trapped. You tried to teach, to help, Major. You did something and we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of space, in the middle of a fight." Kel'an saw the tears in her eyes and how fast the woman was breathing. "We were under attack! We didn't know where we were or who was shooting at us. And that's when John…"

Kel'an leapt over the table seconds later as the old woman passed out, her body becoming slack. Kel'an reached the woman and held her up as she began to slide out of the wheelchair.

"This is Beckett!" Carson snapped into his radio earpiece. "I need medical assistance in the Conference Room. ASAP!"

A-A-A-A-A-A

John walked into the infirmary a few hours later. After Beckett had taken the elder Elizabeth back to the infirmary with their Elizabeth in tow, he'd moved to the balcony off of the Control Room for some air. There was something about hearing the elder's words of the expedition's arrival that had gotten to him.

He also hadn't missed Kel'an's reactions to every word spoken as she stood by one window, one hand clutching at the hand of her brother who had moved to stand behind her. He hadn't felt like this in months, heck, years, especially since he'd seen his friends die in the helicopter crash. Seeing that and hearing elder Elizabeth's words had brought everything up. John grudgingly admitted that what her Rodney had done was somewhat impressive.

He saw Elizabeth standing by the bed as he walked in and he consciously made sure that she would hear him and to not silence his footsteps as his Black Ops training had told him.

"How's she doing?" he asked Elizabeth quietly, crossing his arms absently.

The woman smiled weakly at him for a moment before she looked at the old woman in the medical bed. "Stabilised," she answered. "But still very weak – and getting weaker."

John nodded, looking between both the old and the current Elizabeth, comparing their appearances. He couldn't help the sigh and the shake of his head at the sight of Elizabeth's morality.

"Your own mortality staring you right in the face," he said. "I can't imagine how you must be feeling."

She smiled weakly at him. "When she looks at me, it's as if she's sensing my thoughts and I'm sensing hers," she admitted. "It's very unsettling."

John smirked then. "Just when you thought this place couldn't get any weirder!" he said, trying to bring a smile, to alleviate the tension he could sense her having.

He heard her chuckle, even as he heard Rodney walk in. "Well, it's obvious," the Canadian said. "The Puddle Jumper they escaped in must have been some sort of time machine; had to have an additional component built into it."

John smirked at that. "Flux capacitor!" he said.

It was the only thing he could think of as an equivalent and as a continuation of his earlier conversation with Rodney, the man in question watching him for a second. "… Yeah," he said. "The question is, where's the time machine now, hmm?"

"I have an answer to that, Rodney," Camilla spoke as she and Martouf calmly walked into the infirmary. "I looked in the Jumper Bay after the elder Elizabeth collapsed and found multiple spare parts of a Jumper lying in a small, secluded area that the city showed me. A lot of parts are missing, but what components I can find and register on short notice tells me that it's the remains of the time travelling Jumper – several unusual components are amoung the pieces I have found that I know for a fact are not part of a normal Puddle Jumper's systems." The woman sighed. "I can't reverse engineer the Jumper, but there's enough to make a very educated guess."

John looked back at Elizabeth, seeing her stepping closer to the medical bed. "Why don't we ask her?" she said, nodding to the now awake older version of Elizabeth.

The elder Elizabeth frowned. "What happened?" she managed.

"Can you tell us; the ship that you disappeared in, where is it now?" Elizabeth asked her.

"It's gone." The old woman drew in a shuddering breath. "We tried to get away, Major Sheppard tried to fight back, but the ship was struck. The next thing I knew, I woke up here."

"You mean now?" John asked.

The woman shook her head. "No," she answered. "Then. An Ancient was there. His name was Janus. He healed my wounds and explained to me what happened." The woman took in yet another breath and John saw the tears in her eyes as she looked at John. "You and Dr. Zelenka didn't survive the impact of the ship on the ocean's surface." Her clouded gaze shifted to Camilla who moved closer as John saw the old woman straining to see her. "You were in the infirmary as well, but Kel'an didn't survive the impact. You woke up several times while I was healing, but breathing difficulties killed you before they could fix the damage to your body sufficiently to save your life. With their resources focused elsewhere, you died in your sleep one night."

John watched as Camilla sat down and rubbed at her throat self consciously while Martouf moved to her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders before he pulled her close, one hand cradling her head against his chest. John remembered the incident with the spectre in the first few weeks in the city, remembering her gasping breaths as she struggled to breathe. That breathing difficulty could _kill _her?

John looked away then, hearing a muted sob coming from the woman. If he, or they, couldn't leave, the least he could do was give them a modicum of privacy.

"Ha," Rodney said as he looked at him. "Ah, the bitter taste of ultimate failure, hmm?" John saw the smug smile on his face.

"Well, if you'd just figured out how to fix the damn shield in the first place, none of us would have died," he returned.

The Canadian just glared at him. "I did everything I could, including valiantly attempting to save your sorry-" he began before Elizabeth turned to look at them.

"Gentlemen," she admonished them gently. "Focus." She shook her head as she looked back at the elder Elizabeth. "Please, continue."

The elder Elizabeth nodded. "Needless to say, I was very confused," she said. "He explained to me that the ship we had escaped in was a time machine. He was the one who built it. After I was feeling better, he brought me before the Atlantean Council." She swallowed convulsively. "But not before I said goodbye to you, Camilla, Kel'an." She nodded after a moment's thought. "The members were called Melia and Moros, the two that I remember." Elder Elizabeth sighed and shook her head. "They told me of beings called Wraiths – a vicious, formidable enemy whose power and technology rivalled their own."

Camilla nodded at that, looking at them as she wiped at her eyes. "We know," she said softly. "We've come across them before."

Elder Elizabeth nodded. "The Atlanteans sent a delegation protected by their most powerful warships in the faint hope of negotiating a truce," she told them. "One on one, the Atlantean ship were more powerful, but the Wraith were so many. After that great battle, it was only a matter of time."

John listened as she described the meeting between her and the elders of the Atlantean city. It hadn't gone well from the sound of things, even as he saw Carson walking in, a datapad in his hands. John waited until the elder Elizabeth had finished the last of her story with the council before he drew their Elizabeth over to Carson.

"The last of the test results only confirm the obvious," the Scottish man said as the others joined them. "Her skeletal, circulatory and neuro-endocrine systems have all been decimated by age. I'm seeing renal failure, liver failure and evidence of a stroke from her recent collapse."

John sighed at that, crossing his arms again. "How long does she have?" he asked quietly.

Carson sighed. "I doubt she'll live out the night," he answered.

"Please," John heard the elder Elizabeth call and he turned with the others to go back to her. "I don't know how much time I have left to tell the story I have waited so long to tell." She looked at each of them before she nodded. "Uh… the Council. They were very upset."

Camilla nodded then. "Yes," she said. "You said that they had decided to destroy the machine."

Elder Elizabeth nodded. "I tried to talk them out of it," she agreed. "I didn't give up hope. Thankfully, I had an ally." She sighed, leaning back in her seat. "Janus and I tried to talk to Melia, but it didn't work. She confirmed the Council's decision. Of course, Janis refused to concede defeat. The more someone told him not to do something, the more he had to do it. So, he came up with an alternate plan behind the Council's back." John smiled at her chuckle. "It was all I could do to try to keep up with him." She chuckled again. "We talked about the ZPMs, about the power system that had resulted in the failure I had experienced. Then he showed me the ZPMs." She shook her head. "I didn't believe my eyes. Three ZPMs in front of me. Then we heard word from the Council. Their transport ship was inbound and it was taking heavy fire."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Elizabeth looked around the infirmary as she saw on the edge of the bed of her elder counterpart. Rodney had appropriated the only other medical bed nearby and had promptly fallen asleep on it, curled up. John sat on one chair, his feet crossed on another that he had drawn close, before he had fallen asleep with his arms crossed in front of him and his chin resting on his chest.

Elizabeth looked at both men, noticing the two blankets draped over both men, tucked loosely around their sleeping bodies. Camilla and her brother sat nearby, on the floor, their backs resting against the wall as they both appeared to sleep or meditate. It appeared the female Tok'ra had a bit of a Mother Hen streak if the blankets were any indication.

Elizabeth shook her head with an affectionate smile as she looked back at her elder counterpart, gently stroking the long white hair. She felt the woman stirring before she saw it.

"Damn!" the woman muttered. "Fell asleep again."

Elizabeth chuckled softly. "Well, you're not the only one," she told her, looking around at the others. The elder Elizabeth looked around, chuckling herself at the sight of everyone asleep. "Are you in any pain?"

The elder Elizabeth arched an eyebrow at her. "Would we admit it if we were?" she returned.

Elizabeth nodded then. "I wish there was more we could do for you," she said quietly, feeling it.

The elder Elizabeth looked at her. "Oh, look at you!" she said. "Always worrying." She shook her head. "You put too much pressure on yourself." The elder smiled slightly. "Remember that miserable Baltic negotiation? What Simon told us afterwards?"

Elizabeth nodded, remembering the negotiations she was talking about. "'Breathe'," she answered. "Amoung other things!"

Weir nodded at her. "Enjoy the moment," she told her firmly. "What's here, right now. The sun, the breeze… our birthday!"

Elizabeth muffled a laugh as she looked at her. "Sheppard couldn't keep it to himself, huh?!" she said.

She was already plotting various devious missions for the man for the next few months. "I'm just saying stop being so damned hard on yourself," her elder part told her firmly. "Life is quick."

Elizabeth shook her head. "Not for you," she said.

She chuckled then, surprising Elizabeth. "It was my choice," she said. "I didn't second-guess it then, and I don't regret it now." Elizabeth notice that she was breathing a little heavier but seemed to work through it. "Janis prepared the stasis chamber for me," she continued. "He set up a failsafe to raise the city should everything work as he programmed the city to wake me up after three point three thousand years to change the ZPMs. He taught me how to reset the programming to do just that and how to start the rotation of the crystals." She coughed tiredly. "And then they left, all of them; they were returning to Earth through the Stargate." She smiled weakly, tears in her eyes. "And then I was alone." She sighed. "I set the city to slumber and began my long journey home."

Elizabeth nodded at her. "It worked," she told her. "The stasis, the failsafe." She had to tell her it had worked. She had to. "You gave up your entire life."

Her elder counterpart shook her head. "No," she disagreed. "Because we are the same person. The best part of my life – it's just beginning. I'm exploring a new galaxy. I have years ahead of me yet." She reached out and cupped Elizabeth's cheek and Elizabeth held it there, taking the strain from her older self. "Trust yourself Elizabeth. All that matters is right now. And the note… I wrote it in case I didn't survive. Have you figured it out yet?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "Five Gate addresses," she told her.

Her older self smiled. "Outposts," she told her. "Each one with a Zero Point Module. Janus told me."

Elizabeth nodded and stood up, gently laying her hand down as she moved to John, gently shaking his shoulder. The man started awake, tensing and frowning at the sight of the blanket draped over him. Elizabeth moved to Rodney, waking him and Camilla as she moved.

"The note she left," she told them. "Co-ordinates of planets to have known ZPMs."

She watched as Rodney climbed down off of the bed, kicking the blanket to one side as he patted his trousers before he brought out the note. "They could still be there," John said as he took note from the scientist.

Elizabeth watched as the two and the Tok'ra put their heads together. "Isn't that M7G-677?" she asked. "Haven't you already been to this planet?"

Rodney nodded.

"This is amazing!" Rodney said. "Elizabeth we've got…" he faded off and Elizabeth heard a machine flat-lining behind her.

The woman sighed and turned around, walking over to the old woman that now lay dying and gently took her hand. She wasn't entirely dead yet and Elizabeth would be damned if she would let her go through it alone.

A-A-A-A-A-A

**THREE DAYS LATER**

At the discrete cough from the door to her office, Cam looked up from her translation. With it now being one of the few days that the woman had given her department a day off, she was suitably surprised to hear a cough coming from the office's doorway.

The woman had given up on sleep after the first night, the first attempt following Weir's death and her cremation. The nightmares of what could have been had left her gasping for air as she struggled to control her ragged breathing. Since then she had kept an ever-present cup of coffee close at hand, making sure that she was fully caffeinated at all times. She'd even gone so far as to meditate in her office as well, sitting out of view of the door.

"I know you're in there," she heard John call as she stood up slowly from where she'd sat herself out of sight of the door after her last meditation.

With a groan the Tok'ra just stretched her back out, placing her datapad on her already overfull desk. "Come in," she called.

She saw the doors open and she watched as John walked in, stopped and looked at the desks that had once held translators-in-training. Now, with the people gone, the desks had been filled with the sudden influx of translations that had been demanded from everyone across the city in the various departments. Cam chuckled at the expression of confusion that crossed the man's face for a moment.

"Be careful of where you walk, John," she warned him. "I've got more scraps of paper and datapads to be had in this room than what's generally called sane."

She watched as the man, without the grey and black jacket of the uniform, rather in the black shirt that denoted military, stepped inside, moving carefully between her desks. The Major seemed to consciously avoid actually touching the desks, holding a mug of coffee up and out of the way as he moved until he reached Cam.

"You got any free time?" he asked.

Cam shrugged a shoulder. "I'd like to say yes," she said. "But…" She gestured to the desks sadly. "I can't leave."

She saw John think for a moment before he looked at her. "You got a few minutes then?" he asked.

The Tok'ra smiled and nodded at that. "I've got a few minutes," she said, grabbing two of the heavier stools and deftly carrying them over, feeling Kel'an added strength easily taking the strain as she placed one down for the pilot. "What do you need?"

She sat down and reached for her own coffee. The Tok'ra winced and drained the mug of cold coffee with a slight shudder.

"I want to learn some Ancient," John told her, smirking slightly as she put her own mug down as far away from her as she physically could. "Seems with all the exploring we're likely to do here, it'll be better if I _know _what I'm looking at."

Cam leaned back in her seat and thought. "Commonly used words and numbers?" she asked him return before she nodded. "Give me five minutes to get the urgent translations sent out and I'll give you a hand."

She saw the man nod and Cam moved into action, going through the datapads in minutes and sending off the completed translations she had managed to get done and completing the last one and sending it off as soon as she was done. It took a minute or so to clear her desk of the datapads, much to the amusement of John as he leaned back a little before helping.

Cam picked up a training datapad that she had filled with Ancient words and numbers and quickly brought up one of the lessons she had written. "Ready?" she asked John.

The man nodded, setting down his cup of coffee as he clicked his neck. "Ready when you are," he told her.

Cam nodded and returned to her seat. "Let's get started then," she said.

* * *

_"Man should forget his anger before he lies down to sleep." Mahatma Gandhi_

_"As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spend brings happy death." Leonardo da Vinci_

* * *

Response to reviews/reviewers:

No guest reviews this time. Watch this space in the next chapter.

Let me know what you think. R&R!


	13. Chap 12: Brotherhood

Standard Disclaimer is standard. Anyone you don't recognise or research as belonging to MGM and the Stargate franchise is mine. Though, I do admit, finding a way to get Ronon Dex and/or John Sheppard to my place is high on my list of priorities.

Okay, I decided to post this today since I've had it waiting in the wings for a little while now. I hope everyone likes this chapter and leaves a review for me to read - or even if you don't like it, I'd still like to read your review of it, just... no flames. I don't mind constructive critiquing, but no flames.

Okay, on with the rest of this chapter!

* * *

I wish to remind people that there is an ongoing poll on who everyone thinks Camilla should get together with. If you go and click my penname at the top of this page, the poll is right at the top of my bio, so have a vote and I'll take a look. While I have promised at least one pairing to a reader, I will take all comments/poll votes seriously and consider how to work in a relationship – a friendship at the least – into the story.

I do want to thank those of you who have either voted on my page or through your reviews; to say the least, it's very interesting to see where everyone's opinions lie.

* * *

**Chapter 12: Sent From The Brotherhood Of Atlantis, These Letters From Pegasus To You**

Cam sighed as she sat in the main briefing room in the main tower of Atlantis. For the first time in what the woman would describe as weeks or months, she wasn't carrying a datapad to translate Ancient texts. Instead, both she and Kel'an were focusing on the briefing that they had been called to.

"Do they have any idea where the ZPM could be?" Elizabeth asked.

Rodney shrugged a shoulder as he leaned back in his seat beside John. "According to legend, an Ancient came through the Stargate and entrusted a sect of Sudarian priests with a rare treasure, or 'Potentia' as they called it," he answered. "This Lantian told them to keep it hidden from the Wraith at all costs. Now, the Sudarian people worshipped the Ancients and considered the Potentia their most sacred artefact. Now, predictably, they did exactly as the Ancient requested."

Cam nodded at the new information. "They call the ZPM their Potentia," she said. "It fits."

"So they wouldn't have used it?" Elizabeth asked, looking between them all.

"From what I can tell, they only brought it out of hiding to be displayed on high holidays," Rodney answered. "I'd be surprised if they knew it could be used."

Cam chuckled at that. "If they never used it, then that is very good news," she said. "They would never have depleted the energy within."

Rodney nodded, shaking a finger at her with a small smile before he sighed. "The bad news however," he said, looking at Elizabeth, "is that after ten thousand years of Wraith culling, Sudarian society is essentially extinct. The planet's inhabitants are only at a Renaissance level of development, but with the help of some of our gear, I really think we can make some headway."

Elizabeth nodded in answer. "Alright," she answered. "I'm sold." She turned her attention to John. "Major, take your team back to Dagan. See if you can get us a ticket home."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam sighed as she stood on the sadly busy balcony attached to the Control Room. As much as she and Kel'an had sought out space and silence to just relax before making another excursion into the City, standing near a small group of Athosians gave her mind something to block absently as she leaned her weight against the metal railing, letting the sea air brush her face lightly, soothingly.

**_I thought today was meant to be your day off, _**Kel'an commented. **_You seem to be doing anything and everything _not _related to that._**

Cam chuckled softly at that, vaguely registering Elizabeth stepping out onto the balcony to have a quick word with one of the team leaders that focused on searching the City.

_We have the threat of the Wraith to worry about, _she answered, smiling ever so slightly as she closed her eyes, focusing on her friend. _We have the worry about searching for a power source that may or may not exist in the City or elsewhere in the Pegasus galaxy. _The woman sighed. _I will take 'proper' days off only when I am secure in the knowledge that the City will be able to be protected._

Kel'an sighed tiredly in her mind, even as the Tok'ra heard hurried footsteps racing out from one door and skidding to halt next to Elizabeth.

"Dr. Weir, I was finally able to interface our computers with the Atlantean long-range sensors," Dr. Zelenka said.

Cam frowned as she opened her eyes and turned to look at the man in surprised, even as Elizabeth smiled slightly and nodded. "Excellent," she said.

"There's an unidentified craft about the size of a Wraith Dart heading for the City."

Cam froze at that, looking at the Czech. "What?!" she asked him.

When the man nodded and gestured for them to follow him, Cam certainly didn't argue. "I'm sorry," the man continued. "The sensors picked it up days ago, but it's taken me until now to finally decipher what they've been trying to tell us."

Cam grabbed the nearest stool she could reach and put it next to the one where Zelenka sat down, nodding to the screen as he began typing in a series of commands. "A Dart?" Elizabeth asked. "How is that possible?"

The Tok'ra leaned back frowning. "It could have been modified to get here as quickly as it could," she muttered.

"The Hive Ships are still light years away!" Elizabeth protested.

"It could have used neighbouring Stargate and flown towards us at maximum speed ever since Wraith discovered that we were here," Zelenka told her.

Cam shook her head as she looked at the laptop screen in front of the man, shaking her head. "With its current velocity, Elizabeth, we'll see the Dart inside of half an hour," she said.

Elizabeth groaned and ran a hand through her hair. "I want three Jumpers in the air as soon as possible!" she ordered.

Cam nodded in answer. "As long as you don't tell my brother, you've got one Jumper in the air, Elizabeth," she said.

A-A-A-A-A-A

John sighed as he search the chamber and the few, dead end corridors that split off from it. Grinding his teeth, he turned around and saw Martouf at the end of one of the other corridors.

The male Tok'ra had stripped off both his tac vest as well as the dark leather 'jacket' of his uniform almost ten minutes after Kolya and his men had left. Standing still, not moving, John watched as the man's body tensed further before he lashed out, striking the wall with one fist, cursing moments later.

"There appears to be no passageways in this corridor," Martouf called as he turned around.

John nodded as he made his way into the main chamber, watching as Teyla helped Ford limp to the highly – and only – decorated wall in the entire chamber.

"This is pointless," he said. "No trap doors or hidden passageways anywhere in here."

He'd spent almost the entire time hunting, looking, for any way out other than through the entrance. "There may be more than one way in here, Major," Teyla told him.

John shook his head as he ran a hand through his hair, tugging at it for a moment. "If you are in the habit of hiding chambers, Teyla," Martouf said, "then you do not allow for more than one entrance or exit. The crystal tunnels the Tok'ra used to hide are evidence of this; they have only one way in or out of the tunnels and the Tok'ra have long remained hidden that way."

"What?" Ford asked as he slowly sat down against the wall. "You'd rather just sit here and wait for them to come back?"

John sighed as he moved to his pack, opening it roughly. "What have you got that we can use?" he asked the man as he started the hunt through his bag.

The pilot vaguely remembered what he packed, but he wanted to have a proper idea of what they all had before he tried to put a plan together.

"I've got a couple of MREs; some ammo; and some med supplies," he told Ford, sparing a glance at Teyla, seeing the woman pulling one trouser leg apart to reveal a knife sheath strapped there, close to her ankle before the Athosian removed it. "Well, that's a start."

"I've got a couple of flash-bangs," Ford told him. "I think that's about it."

Martouf nodded as he moved to his own, small pack where his Staff Weapon lay. "I have nothing more than my hand device and my Staff Weapon," he said tiredly.

"What are 'flash-bangs'?" Teyla asked.

"Work kind of like grenades," Ford told her. "Pull the pin, depress the trigger; once you let the spoon pop, you've got about one point five seconds before the room is filled with two point for million candlepower and a bang that's rated at one hundred and seventy-five decibels."

John glanced at Teyla and smiled slightly at the confused expression still on her face. "It'll stun anyone with their eyes and ears open for about ten seconds," he explained before he turned, a plan forming in his mind.

He glanced at the Ancient pedestal and looked around, running through what he would do if he had a group of Ancient Gene users in the area of possible Ancient technology. He nodded after a moment and started clearing some dirt near one of the brick walls in the room.

"What are you doing, Major?" Martouf asked.

"You going to dig us out, sir?" For asked.

John grunted, nodding. "Yeah," he answered absently. "Something like that. Come over and give me hand."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam sighed as she piloted her Jumper up and out of the City's Jumper Bay, pulling into formation beside Markham's ship and other Ancient Gene user she had yet to speak with on a regular basis.

_Ready when you are Kel', _she thought as she activated her radio.

_"Gentlemen, lady, you should have visual in thirty seconds," _Zelenka said.

Cam took position at the back of the formation as they flew from the City, automatically letting the men take position in front of her. She heard Kel'an muttering quietly in her mind before the woman 'heard' her voice getting louder.

**_Four… three… two… one!_**

_"Coming right at you," _Zelenka said in her ear.

Cam frowned as she piloted the Jumper. "Where?!" she snapped. "I can't see the thing anywhere."

Before Zelenka or anyone could answer, the Tok'ra watched in horror as she saw the Dart appear and fire, taking out one of the Jumpers before performing a twisting roll and flying over them, heading towards the City.

Taking a breath, the Tok'ra host ground her teeth and turned her Jumper around, charging after the Wraith Dart. "Atlantis," she ground out. "Markham and Smith were in the Jumper that was just taken out and the Dart is currently making its way to the City."

Cam was vaguely aware of the other Jumper as she literally raced after the Dart, manoeuvring through the City's towers, catching glimpses of Marines along the way. As she contemplated splitting her attention between an Ancient Drone and flying the Jumper, Cam watched as the Dart activated a field beneath it as it flew.

"Atlantis, I don't have a clean shot to take out the Dart," she said. "I cannot fire at this time. I repeat, I do not have a clean shot."

Almost as soon as she had spoken, the woman watched as the Dart stopped what it was doing before it flew upwards, away from the City and Cam ground her teeth as she was forced to follow.

Pulling back on the control sticks and forcing her mind to mediate the power she was using, Cam barely managed to not brush the Main Tower in pursuit. Before she could think of firing on the Dart, the woman watched as the Dart exploded in the air.

Cursing, Cam relaxed her control slightly and flew through the burning debris as it started to fall.

"Well damn," she muttered. "Atlantis, we have a kill. The Dart is destroyed."

_"Good news, Jumper Two," _Elizabeth said. _"Now head on home."_

Kel'an sighed in cam's mind. **_It would have been good news if the Dart had not taken itself out._**

A-A-A-A-A-A

Standing with his hands behind his head, John went over the plan one more time in his mind, even as he watched Rodney talking with the Genii scientist at the pedestal. The same pedestal that had stumped him, Ford, Teyla and practically everyone in the chamber.

Pausing to glance at Martouf and Ford, John took a breath, hoping that everything would work as they'd all planned it.

"I just assumed that we place the stone on the pedestal, have someone put their hands on the palm prints, and hopefully, we get the ZPM," Rodney said. "The only question is: what order do we put the stones in?"

"I think it's pretty straightforward," the Genii scientist said.

"Well, nothing's been straightforward yet," Rodney answered. "What makes you think this would be?"

"The last one is the only one with grooves that match the centre position," the scientist said.

John frowned at that, going over the different designs of the tiles in his mind.

"So?" Rodney asked.

"So it fits snugly into place," the Genii answered. "Complete the pattern, get the ZPM. Why would they continue to play games at this point?"

"I could easily give you reasons as to why they would, good sir," Martouf said.

Rodney rolled his eyes, nodding once at the Tok'ra. "I don't think you understand just how these people thought," he said.

"McKay," Kolya growled. "Stop stalling."

"I'm not," the Canadian answered. "I just think we need to consider the fact-"

Before the man could get any further, and John winced at that, Kolya raised a hand. Rodney stopped at that and the Air Force pilot could only wonder and fume silently at what Kolya had done to the Canadian to make him react to a single gesture from the man.

"Pranos," Kolya said. "Arrange the stones and retrieve the ZPM, please."

**_They've got it wrong._**

John felt his eyes widening as he heard the voice in his head, sounding familiar despite it being the first time he had heard it, even as he looked at the Genii scientist, watching as he placed various tiles down.

_What do you mean? _he thought at the voice.

**_The Genii are wrong. He will die._**

John shook his head slightly, watching as the man placed his hands on the pedestal moments before two bracelets sprung up from the platform, holding Pranos' hands in place before retracting back into the machine.

The pilot watched as the man flinched back, turning his hands to look at his palms.

"McKay," Kolya growled.

"What do you want me to do?!" the scientist responded.

"What is this…?" the Genii scientist asked moments before John saw the man collapse, his hands turning to face him as he died.

There were two triangular cuts to Pranos' palms, one on each hand and John turned his head slightly to look at the others, seeing their own, wide-eyed expressions that ranged from horror to worry and through the rest of the gamut.

"He's dead," Kolya said as he looked at Rodney. "You knew this would happen."

Rodney nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. "Yes," he answered. "Yes I did. In fact, I was in the middle of telling you as much when you ordered him to activate the pedestal." Rodney shook his head and took a single step back from the Genii. "Look, you killed him. Not me."

Kolya managed to level a glare at the scientist. "What's the correct order of the stones?" he asked.

Rodney shook his head. "I'm not sure yet," he answered.

John watched as Kolya moved away from the pedestal and over to him and the others, looking at each of them.

"Well," the Genii said. "You'll have four chances, not including yourself, to get it right." John honestly didn't know what to think as Kolya looked at him. "You go first."

Lowering his hands slowly, John silently cursed his bad luck.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Janus the Lantian, or Ancient as his people were known on Earth, watched the proceedings inside the chamber, tutting under his breath at the two humans standing in front of the pedestal, trading words quietly.

He turned to his companion who watched the proceedings calmly. "How can you be so calm, my friend?" he asked her.

The woman chuckled as they both watched the men arguing mildly. "I have lived past this point, Janus," she said. "I know the good Colonel survives this… debacle."

Chuckling at the certainty his friend held, the Ancient turned his attention back to the two men. "And how, if I may ask, does he?" he queried.

Before the woman answered, Janus felt her mind move out, pushing at the one man, much like he had before. This time however, he sensed a humming that he did not believe had been there before.

"You are telling him what needs to be done," he charged her, smiling slightly. "That is against the rules, m'dear."

The woman chuckled, looking at him. "The one Lantian to break the rules is accusing me of doing the same?" she teased with a mild laugh. "No, I am not, Janus. I am merely giving him a clue, one word, one number. Nothing more, nothing that will tell him anything of us."

Janus shook his head with a chuckle and a small smile. "And what do you know of this clue?" he asked.

"Only what the man reported after the mission," the woman answered. "I don't remember anything beyond that."

Slapping his hands together and rubbing his palms gently against one another, the male Ancient looked at the scene showing in front of them. "Well then," he said. "Let's see how well this turns out."

A-A-A-A-A-A

John limped up the steps in front of the Stargate, grunting with the effort it took to move comfortably. He'd survived the test put in front of him on the pedestal, all thanks to one voice in his mind, whispering 'fifteen' before disappearing. It had jump-started his own thoughts to the solution and he'd survived.

All for nothing, though. Allina, now the new 'Master Handler' for the Brotherhood of Dagan, had taken the ZPM to another world before she'd seen them leave. John doubted he would ever get a chance to speak with the woman again, but he sighed.

"Did you try to explain-" Elizabeth began.

"I tried," Rodney interrupted her tiredly. "Believe me, we tried."

"We could have used it," the woman muttered.

John grunted as they followed the leader of the expedition up the next flight towards the Control Room. "Of course we could have," he agreed.

"You don't understand, Major," Camilla called as they reached the landing that acted as the Control Room. "While you were off-world, a Wraith Dart flew over the City."

John froze and looked at the female Tok'ra. "I'm sorry?" he asked.

This information was new to him, stunning him and his already tired mind.

"We lost a Jumper," Elizabeth answered. "Along with Markham and Smith."

John looked at Elizabeth, frowning. "We what?"

"And it scanned us, Major," Camilla added.

John ground his teeth together for a few moments. "We just lost two of my men and a Jumper," he said, "and this is the first time I'm hearing about it?!"

"Before you get your panties in a twist and have a royal snit at Elizabeth, _John_," Camilla said firmly, "we tried, even as I piloted one of the Jumpers, to contact you. But – and here's the real kicker – you've been out of radio contact for nearly half of the day."

John was well aware of Elizabeth looking between them, even as he struggled to get his anger under control As tired as he was, he knew his control was frayed and he took a breath to calm himself. He was also very much aware of Martouf tensing somewhere behind him.

"Now, the Dart sent a transmission deep into space and then it self-destructed before we could get to it," Elizabeth said after a moment.

"Yeah, we scanned the area with our deep space sensors," Zelenka put in. "And…uh…"

John had no idea what 'deep space sensors' were and he was far too tired to think on it. "We have deep space sensors?" Rodney asked.

"A very long story, Rodney," Camilla answered. "Short of it is we have them."

"And we found something else," Elizabeth continued, "rather unsettling."

John shook his head with a forced smirk. "I'm already unsettled," he told her. "Show me."

Seconds later, John wished he hadn't asked when he did. His brain was tired, his body was tired and sore and the man just wanted to sleep as he looked at the image from the deep space sensors.

"Where are the Hive Ships headed?" he asked.

"Maintaining their direction and speed," Camilla muttered, "the Hives should be over the planet within two weeks."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam grunted as she hefted the weights into the air, seeing the metal pole bending before she relaxed her arms and let the weights and their bar descend to her chest before letting the whole thing drop to the floor with a muted thud. Kel'an's strength still managed to surprise her sometimes and she couldn't held but wonder at the enhancements her symbiote did to her body.

"Do I want to know why you were in one of the Jumpers?" she heard Martouf ask.

Cam chuckled as she bent back over and lifted the weight to above her knees, locking her legs into position as she stood straight. "It was either myself of Carson," she told him as she grunted and lifted the bar to rest against her clavicle. "I really think it was preferable that I be the one to pilot and not our directionally challenged doctor."

Martouf sighed as he moved into her line of sight and bent over to pick up the other weights. "Next time," he began as he, too, lifted the weights up past his knees, "please see if anyone else has the gene to do what you did." Her brother looked at her. "I lost Jolinar and Rosha, Camilla, as I lost Al'ek. I do not wish to lose you as well."

Cam took a breath and nodded at her brother as they both lifted the weights up before they relaxed. "I will," she promised him. "I will try, Marty."

"That is all I ask."

A-A-A-A-A-A

The main briefing room had been cleared of the glass tables and replaced with the steel ones that the expedition from Earth had brought with them. The eight chairs had been brought in minutes after the glass tables had been removed were around the table, all of them filled with the main members of the expedition:

Rodney McKay of the science department; Teyla Emmagan of her people; Caron Beckett of the medical department; Camilla Carter and Kel'an of the Translation Department (the same department that had been reduced in size due to the non-essential members); Martouf and Lantash of the Tok'ra; Elizabeth Weir as head of the expedition; and Major John Sheppard and Lieutenant Ford of the military wing of the expedition.

The meeting had been called the night before with the appreciation that morning was good enough for all members. Cam had once again not gotten any sleep, a recurring theme for the Tok'ra as she worked on the sudden influx of translations that had come from all departments in the city.

"Well," Elizabeth said. "We knew they were coming; at least now we know when."

John nodded at that. "That's something," he agreed.

"That's something?!" Rodney snapped out.

"It means that there is still time, Rodney," Cam spoke softly. "There is no reason yet to panic."

Teyla nodded slowly, tiredly. Cam knew that the woman and her people had lived under the spectre of the Wraith for their entire lives and this revelation that the Wraith were coming to attack Atlantis was a mild surprise to the leader of the Athosians.

"Where there is time, there is hope," Teyla told them.

Elizabeth nodded. "Agreed," she said. "So recommendations?"

"Other than panic?" Carson asked.

Elizabeth smiled at him. "Other than panic, yes," she answered.

"I realise this might not be cool," Ford began, "but we should consider M7G-677."

"As a possible evacuation site?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, ma'am," the Lieutenant answered. "I'm suggesting that we take their ZPM."

Cam shook her head at the suggestion. "As good an idea as that may be, Lieutenant," she said, "I do not feel comfortable taking away that planet's method of protection offered to the children."

Ford nodded at her. "Dr. Weir asked for suggestions, ma'am," he said. "It's a matter of survival."

The Tok'ra understood and nodded back. Kel'an and various of her previous hosts had been forced to do things that went against what they felt comfortable with and Cam knew she had been 'spoilt' living on Earth and the options that had lain at her feet, but here, in Pegasus, they had very little.

"I see," Elizabeth said softly. "Well, we are not quite there yet and as long as I'm in charge, we will never be there."

Teyla nodded once. "I agree Dr. Weir," she said. "If this is to be our end, it is best we face it with both dignity and honour."

Martouf sighed. "All we can hope is that we never reach the point where we have to consider that option, Dr. Weir, Teyla," he said. "We Tok'ra have been in situations where we do not have the opportunity to say 'no' to an option. I would rather another option, but we must keep it in mind as a last resort."

Elizabeth sighed and rubbed her face tiredly. "I don't like it," she reiterated.

**_Who says that any of us do? _**Kel' muttered.

Cam sighed, realising exactly how tired she felt with the knowledge of the Wraith coming burdening her. "To that end, I actually have an idea," Rodney said. "In addition to panic."

Cam watched as John perked up slightly. "Let's hear it," he said.

Rodney paused for a moment. "It's really a long shot," he said. "But I think it, uh, most likely worth the effort. Of course it will mostly be my effort, so…"

Cam sighed. "What is it, Rodney?" she asked him gently.

"I think we can send a message back to Earth through the Stargate," he said.

"Excuse me?!" Carson managed to sputter out.

"I thought we didn't have enough power," Elizabeth said.

Rodney chuckled. "Not to send a person, no," he agreed. "We'd never be able to maintain the wormhole long enough. But I think if we were able to tie together all of our power-generating capabilities, we might – and I emphasise _might _– be able to establish a wormhole long enough to send a message."

"How much time are we talking about?" John asked.

"Well, approximately, uh…" Rodney began, "one point three seconds. Give or take."

"That's nae much time," Carson commented.

Cam chuckled then. "Long enough with a compressed message," she said. "The Tok'ra long ago learned that if messages needed to be sent quickly but the messages were long we could compress them to be listened to a later time. That is what you are presenting as an option are you not, Rodney?"

The Canadian nodded in answer. "Yeah," he said. "But I helped with the encoding of the US Air Force's programming a few years back. Colonel Carter should be able to see my work and figure things out."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Rodney walked out of the briefing room his mind racing through various possible equations he could use to finesse the compression algorithm. He knew the others were leaving as well, including Camilla and Martouf. The two Tok'ra were practically inseparable, not that Rodney could blame them.

If things had gone better with his sister, he'd be feeling the same that he knew Camilla did about Colonel Carter. With a sigh, Rodney shook his head and carried on to his lab, well aware that Zelenka would be there, working on his own work from the city.

"Rodney!" he heard Camilla call from behind him when he reached his lab.

He sighed, his mind still running through the equations, and turned to look at the Tok'ra as she jogged up to him. "You said you're going to need a lot of power to connect, right?" she asked him.

Rodney nodded, remembering that part of his speech in the briefing room. "Yeah," he answered. "What are you getting at?"

Camilla chuckled softly, rolling her eyes. "You're going to need all the power you can get, Rodney," she said. "I can provide a bit more."

The scientist frowned before he remembered the tests that they had run before the storm had ravaged the city months ago. He also remembered the amount of energy she had managed to produce before her hands had started to bleed and scar.

"You wouldn't be able to produce enough to be useful before you bled out," he told her as he turned around and palmed the door open.

"IV saline drip, blood transfusion then, Rodney," Camilla continued, following him in. "You know as well as I do that I can provide enough to help."

Rodney sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, facing away from her. "If I say yes, have Carson get everything ready, have everyone aware and a hook-up in place, will you let me get to work on the compression algorithm?" he asked her.

Camilla chuckled again, patting his shoulder gently. "I promise," she said. "Just as long as you think over the actual possibility of me being of use, Rodney."

A-A-A-A-A-A

It had taken an hour for Cam to get her office cleared of all of the translations that had piled up in a few short days. The woman honestly loved her brother, Martouf leaping in to help with her translations where he could, but she had spent several, non-stop hours before the meeting to try and get through the mountain of work.

_It seems that with the possibility of sending information back to Earth everyone wants a translation of Ancient to be done, _Cam complained to Kel' as she finished one of the last pieces of translation.

**_Before, it was for their own work, now it seems that everyone wants to send all the information possible back to Earth, _**Kel'an answered calmly. **_You would have done the same if we had lived amoung the Tok'ra like Martouf._**

Cam sighed, nodding as she looked at the message popping up on the screen of her datapad, calling her to yet another meeting that day. _I know, _she said. _I just wish Rodney wouldn't send so much from the database to be translated is all! I've only translated close to 1% of what's there and he keeps sending more to me._

Kel'an chuckled. **_I know, _**she said as they left the office and made for the Gateroom and then the briefing room. **_I have been with you throughout the time it has taken you to translate everything, kid._**

Cam quickly climbed the stairs, her feet barely touching the step before moving onto the next. "Alright," Elizabeth said. "We have our city spec, mission reports, Ancient translations and tactical statements all ready to go." She looked at Rodney as they all entered the briefing room. "What else?"

Rodney grinned slightly. "Well, I've included a ton of data that we've been able to get from the Ancient database," he answered.

Elizabeth paused as she sat down. "Really?" she asked. "That is incredible!"

Cam saw Rodney's smug expression as she took her own seat. "Well, the algorithm I've devised is extraordinarily efficient, yes," he said, smug.

"Oh please!" Carson muttered from where he sat on the other side of the room from the Canadian.

Cam chuckled again. "Exactly how efficient is the algorithm to have fitted all of that information into one point three seconds?" she asked, well aware of the others in the briefing room.

"Point three, actually," Rodney answered.

Elizabeth paused. "We have a whole extra second to fill?" she asked.

Rodney tapped at his datapad absently. "Mmm," he answered. "A whole extra one, yes."

Elizabeth looked at the man. "Is it enough to include personal messages?" she asked.

The head of the science department sat and thought for a second. "Uh, sure," he answered. "Several hours of video. We'd have much more if it was purely audio."

Elizabeth smiled and nodded. "I think it would do wonders for morale," she said. "Especially now."

Cam looked over at Ford, seeing his cheerful grin. "I could tell me grandma what I've been up to all this time," he said.

The Tok'ra smiled at him. "If she has security clearance then she can," she told him gently, seeing him return her smile sheepishly even as he nodded. "But I think she could do with a message saying that you're alive and well… and that you miss her."

Rodney snorted. "This is all very charming," he said. "But, um, I have work to do… shouldn't I… uh…?"

Elizabeth looked at Ford with a gentle smile. "Lieutenant, maybe you'd like to handle this?" she said. "Give everybody a few minutes on camera to send a personal message to their loved ones."

The man smiled at that. "I'd love to, ma'am," he said.

Elizabeth nodded then, looking at everyone. "Off you go!" she said.

Cam stood slowly again. "Hey Cam," Rodney said. "In four hours we're doing a dry run, you may want to be ready."

The Tok'ra sighed and nodded. "I'll be in my office, come get me," she told him.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Teyla was by no means unaffected by Wraith Cullings, but she felt horrible sitting in the seat beside Major Sheppard's in the Puddle Jumper. She was feeling even worse hearing the screams coming from the village.

The Athosian didn't know if she would be able to stand the screams echoing from the burning village much longer. Especially not with the view John had managed to get when he'd landed the ship. Her nerves had already been stressed to breaking point when the lone Wraith had almost discovered the cloaked Jumper. Instead, she had locked her emotions away as well as she could, doing her best to not react to the sight that constantly met her.

With years of running from the Wraith whenever they had visited Athos, Teyla knew her hearing was somewhat sharper than many of the people from Earth and she frowned as she heard voices.

_"Keep going! Keep going!"_

Teyla stood slowly and focused her gaze to where her ears had heard the words being called and she saw shadows racing from the trees before they materialised into four people.

A woman, a child and two men. Reacting, Teyla snatched her weapon up and made to race from the Jumper before pausing and turning around and moving back to the controls of the Puddle Jumper, taking a moment to switch the cloak off before racing out of the Jumper.

"Over here!" she called, her heart breaking at the terror she could see on their faces as they turned to run away. "It is alright, I am a friend!" She ran over to them. "Please, hurry! Hurry, this way."

She gently ushered them towards the Jumper and inside as quickly as she could before she reactivated the cloak, letting her eyes scan the horizon as well as she could, searching for any sign of human or Wraith before she relaxed slightly and moved back to what she could only describe as a small family. Three of them sat while one man stood, all of them looking exhausted.

"How many of you remain?" she asked, looking at him as she found a water bottle.

The man shrugged a shoulder as he panted for breath. "I don't know," he answered. "The Wraith are everywhere."

Teyla sighed and nodded, even as she turned her attention to the woman, holding the open water out to her. "Here," she told her gently. "Drink this. It is water." Shaking her head with a small smile she turned her attention back to the man. "Orin?" she asked. "Have you seen him?"

She reached for another bottle, knowing that all the Puddle Jumpers were stocked with several containers for situations requiring their use by the members of the various teams. The man shook his head again.

"Not since before the Wraith arrived," he answered, taking the water bottle she offered him. "Thank you," he said, taking a drink. "We must go now, the Wraith will find us."

Even as the others stood, Teyla gently gripped his forearm, stopping them from leaving. "No they will not," she told them softly. "Our ship has a shield which makes it invisible to them. You are safe here. Just rest and we will leave soon."

A-A-A-A-A-A

John knew exactly where he had parked the Jumper; he'd taken the time to memorise various unique markers from the clearing to tell him exactly where the ramp was, but he was still surprised to not seen any trace of the Jumper as he raced through the trees and into the clearing where he had left the Jumper and Teyla.

He continued at a run, barely breaking stride as he glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was following him. Curving his path to reach the trees that he knew were behind the Jumper, he slowed to a fast jog as the majority of Teyla's body suddenly appeared, her right leg apparently still inside the stealth field.

"Major!" the Athosian called to him.

John slowed to a walk as he got close enough and he stared up at where he knew the top of the Jumper _should _be as he stepped inside the field. As much as he knew how good the field was, he hadn't know what it felt and looked like to step through it.

"It's pretty ugly out there," he told Teyla as he turned his attention to the other people in the Jumper. "Is this Orin's family?"

The woman shook her head. "No," she answered. "They have not seen Orin since the Culling began."

Taking a breath as he looked at her, John struggled to control his frustration. "The village is pretty much wiped out," he told her quietly before he walked to the front of the Jumper, taking his position in the pilot's seat and picking up the pair of binoculars.

Forcing his nausea at the sight of the Wraith Culling, John heard a sound like a collapsing wormhole and the white glow that had been on the horizon disappeared along with it.

"The Gate just shut off," he told Teyla. "We should be able to dial up and get out of here before the Wraith can do anything about it."

He felt Teyla resting a hand on his shoulder. "Please, Major, give Orin more time."

"If he was able to get here, he'd be here by now," he told the Athosian. "We've got to get back."

He didn't see her face, but felt her hand tense moments before she removed her hand from his shoulder. "Then go," she told him resolutely. "I will stay and search in the daylight. You can return for me later."

John turned to look at Teyla, seeing her now holding her P-90, ready to move. "Can't do that," he told her.

He'd be damned if he left her behind.

"I consider Orin as family, Major," she told him. "I am sorry if you do not know what that means."

Gritting his teeth, he spared her a momentary glare. "I understand it, Teyla," he told her, "but that's not the point."

As far as he was concerned, the people in Atlantis were more his family than Patrick and Dave Sheppard ever really were.

"With or without you, I am staying," Teyla told him calmly.

John looked at her tersely for a few moments. "You won't make it," he said quietly.

"Then I ask that you stay as well, just a little longer," she responded. "Allow something good to come from this."

John was struck by the realisation that he couldn't force her to leave, much like he knew no one could force him to leave Atlantis. He nodded in answer.

"Alright," he allowed. "We'll give him a little more time."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Aiden sighed as he left the infirmary after doing Carson's message. He'd found a spare camera and tri-pod and had started the rounds, going by department as soon as he'd gotten himself done at the start to save time. He'd finished the infirmary, taking care of the small numbers there before he'd decided to go to Carter next.

He swiped his hand over the crystal bay, purposefully keeping it to the top crystal. "Come in!" Carter called through the door. "It's not locked."

Aiden nodded and swiped his hand again, this time over the crystal that allowed entry, and stepped inside. Major Sheppard had warned him that there was a high likelihood of notes being strewn around the room, but Aiden frowned at the sight of the apparent order to the office.

"Where should I set up, ma'am?" he asked.

Carter stood from her desk and gestured around the room. "Wherever you think is best," she told him. "I'll move a stool into position after that."

Aiden paused and looked around the room, quickly picking out the right walls before he settled on one and began to set up the tripod. "Who are you sending your message back to?" he asked as he took a few minutes to check that everything was ready.

Carter easily picked up one of the heaviest stools Ford had ever seen and carried it over to him before she retrieved another stool, setting it down in front of the wall. "My sister," she answered. "And my dad." She grinned as she sat down on the stool. "Don't worry, Lieutenant, I won't be making anything last too long."

Aiden chuckled as he took his own offered seat, checking that the camera was set up correctly. "I know, ma'am," he said. "Do you want a minute to get ready…? I know a couple of the female nurses needed some time to get their make-up right."

Carter chuckled again, running a hand through her blonde hair absently. "No need, Ford, I don't tend to wear any outside of special occasions," she told him with a soft smile. "I'm ready."

Aiden nodded and set the camera to record, keeping an eye on both the time and the battery. "Set to go ma'am when you're ready," he told her.

He'd edit out the false starts and the extra time before handing the video over to McKay's compression thingy. He saw Carter nod after a moment, her face schooled into a calm mask.

"This for my sister, Colonel Samantha Carter," she said carefully before her calm mask faded into something Aiden would've described as natural and calm.

"Hey Sam," she said, smiling slightly at the camera. "After the last year, I guess I'm a sight for sore eyes." She laughed weakly, obviously gathering herself as she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry to talk shop, sis, but unless you've read the files about what we're facing here, what I'll say after this won't make much sense. Feel free to skip ahead if you have." She took another deep breath and Aiden watched as she gripped her hands tightly in her lap. "In case you haven't heard about what we're facing here, we're facing an enemy called the Wraith; I believe Major Sheppard once described them as space vampires at the beginning here. Well, since you're watching this, this is last ditch attempt to contact Earth, to get word back of everything we've done in the last year and we've all been allowed to send back a message."

Aiden watched as she bit her lip and looked down at her hands, taking in a shuddering breath before she looked back up at the camera. "On to the schmaltz, Sam, just so you're warned," she said with a smile – one that Aiden could tell was somewhat forced. "Thing's have been interesting since the word 'go'. I mean, since we set foot in Atlantis, we've barely had time to sit back and relax for a single day here. I've been more busy here, in the last two, three months or so, than I ever was at school, Sam, and all because I've been made head of new department here – you can tell Daniel it's for Ancient Translations if he's wondering – but it seems that SG-1's typical luck followed me here with all the hair-brained ideas that have come straight from left field and beyond."

Aiden watched as she man bowed her head and took in a shuddering breath. "I guess…" she began, "I guess… the whole reason I'm babbling like I am, Sam, is that I'm worried. This message is a last ditch attempt at contacting Earth and there's no guarantee of the data arriving intact and it's just so hard acknowledging that everyone here may die." Aiden watched as the woman looked up at the ceiling, biting her lip for a moment as she heaved in a breath, taking a few seconds to look back at the camera. "Sam, I'll say it now before I burst into tears, I love you and the other's, I miss you all so much it hurts and…"

She took a breath and Aiden moved to pause the camera, halting himself when she shook her head and sniffed. He was torn as he saw the woman wipe at her eyes, removing tears as she sniffed again, looking away for a few moments before she looked back. Aiden nodded and stood, leaving the room, but leaving the door open as he stood outside, guarding the door for the woman who was saying her final goodbye to her family.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam watched as Ford walked out and she looked back at the camera, gathering the last of her courage. Kel'an hummed in her mind, supporting her silently.

"Sam, can you send Dad a message, telling him how sorry I am?" she asked as she finally felt the tears begin to fall, the very same tears she had been fighting for almost the entire message. "That's I'm sorry that I left like I did; sorry for not saying goodbye properly, for not apologising before I left; that I'm sorry I didn't give him another chance." She barely stifled a sob. "Can you tell him that I miss him and Selmak? I wish I could show him how much and just how much I'm proud to have him as my dad, that I wouldn't change anything about the past just to keep that." She took a steadying breath and looked at the camera to say what she had been dreading saying for months. "Goodbye Sam. Wish me luck."

**_Just let it go, kid, _**Kel'an muttered in her mind. **_Just let it go._**

Cam bowed her head and let the sobs wrack her as she hung her head in her hands, quietly sobbing. She heard Ford step back inside, heard the camera shut off and then she felt the man's hand on her shoulder. The soldier was offering her silent support as he knew, not crowding her and Cam sighed through her sobs and moved a hand to grip his for a moment as she took a shuddering breath and wiped at her face.

"Thank you, Ford," she told him quietly.

"Welcome ma'am," the man responded. "Need anything?"

Cam shook her head and sniffed as she stood off of the stool. "Nope," she told him before she saw a message flashing on her data-pad's screen. "I need to get ready for a dry run. But thanks."

A-A-A-A-A-A

John watched as Camilla jogged down the stairs of the Control Room, dressed in a short robe. He and Teyla had only just gotten the people from Orin's planet settled down with the Athosians, so he was mildly surprised to see the woman dressed like she was.

"What's with the fashion statement?" he asked her.

The Tok'ra had gathered her hair into a braided bun, getting the long locks of it out of the way as she stopped at his side. "We're doing a dry run to the furthest planet we can access, Major," she told him. "I'm being inserted into the circuit to try and provide more power." She lifted her hands into view, letting John see the scarred palms and he remembered the balls of energy she had been able to conjure months ago. "Under this, Carson and Rodney have covered me with monitoring patches for this run. If everything goes to plan, I'll be providing more energy to get the Gate to Earth open."

John nodded once and stepped to the side, gesturing for her to precede him to the room she needed to get to. "After you, Ms. Carter," he said.

The woman laughed and swatted at his shoulder. "Oh do be sensible Major," she said, starting to walk away. "I know your reputation and I'd rather walk on my own to the power chamber!"

John chuckled, even as he mentally slapped the back of his head. He and his father hadn't gotten along while he had been growing up - and still didn't – but he had to agree with his father that 'office' relationships weren't a good idea. Camilla had nothing to worry about as he watched her walk off to the nearest transporter.

"Ready to do your message, sir?" he heard Ford ask reluctantly from behind him.

John sighed and nodded. "Let's do this in the briefing room, Ford," he told his teammate. "Somewhere relatively private."

With another sigh, John turned and headed up the stairs and into the briefing room. He'd already given Elizabeth his report, as had Teyla and all he wanted to do was help himself to some of Carson's hidden brew and just bury the pain of seeing the culling close up, first hand. Teyla had told him stories about it, about living like that on Athos, but even she had seemed withdrawn.

He shook his head as he removed his tac-vest and the P-90, placing them on one of the other chairs as Ford set the camera and tripod up, taking a minute to get it ready. He moved into position and waited until Ford nodded.

"Okay," the Lieutenant said. "Whenever you're ready sir, go ahead."

John nodded as he looked at the camera. He doubted he'd ever be ready to record this message, but he took a breath and started.

"I'm not sure if Colonel Sumner's parents are still alive," he said, beginning. "Umm, I'm not sure he even has family back there – not all of us do." Truth in itself where John was concerned; he and his father estranged, divorced from his ex-wife. He had no one back on Earth to contact. "But if he does have family, they should know that he died with honour and courage in the performance of his duty. He carried the burden of leader, and he carried it well." He sighed. "I didn't get the chance to know him well, but I know this: considering the type of man he was, and what we're up against, well, I wish he was still here." He sighed before he nodded. "Goodbye."

Ford nodded after a moment and switched the camera off. "I'll add it to the others, sir," he said quietly. "Any personal messages you want to send off?"

John shook his head. "No one that matters," he told the man.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Samantha Carter sighed as she pulled Control Room duty. She hadn't really volunteered for it, but she hadn't been conscripted either. With Camilla permanently off-world at Atlantis, it had been difficult to get used to the lack of both her sister and honorary brother Martouf.

Ever since Martouf had learned that she and Camilla were technically sisters, he'd pulled back from the relationship he'd shared with Jolinar. As much as she knew it hurt the man, Sam had been thankful for the space in her head to think to herself. Sam sighed again, running a hand through her hair, a habit she'd picked up from Camilla, as she realised how much she missed everyone in her family, her dad, her sister, her quasi-brother and the symbiotes. It didn't matter that she had Mark and his family to help her, she missed having the family that she could openly talk to about anything in the programme.

So, when she heard the Gate klaxons blaring and Harriman's familiar voice calling out 'unscheduled off-world activation', Sam readily buried herself in the work, racing to take up a seat next to the Gate technician.

She got to her seat just as the iris rose into place and the Gate's wormhole stabilised. For all of a second and a bit, Sam watched as a data transmission was received by their machines.

"Receiving transmission," Harriman said a moment before the Gate powered down and Sam frowned at that.

She shook her head and turned her attention to the data rolling over her screen, trained eyes seeking for anything that could mean harm. "Who's it from?" Harriman pressed her.

Sam took a moment to read the pattern of data before she sat back in her seat, surprise coursing through her. The woman recognised the algorithm and she was amazed to see the familiar coding from a man she'd thought long gone to Atlantis.

"Atlantis," she said. "It's from Atlantis."

"What's from Atlantis?" she heard Jack ask as he entered the room.

She didn't turn, just stared at the data as she quickly sent it to her lab where she knew the only coding for the de-compression algorithm existed. Knowing McKay, the man had managed to code in as much information as possible from the Ancient City and the short data burst would hold enough to keep everyone busy.

"It's a data transmission, sir," she answered. "I recognise the compression algorithm as something Dr. McKay worked on a few years ago."

"They're still alive?" the General asked.

Sam nodded as she stood. "I've got the algorithm to decompress it," she told him. "If Atlantis sent this, then at the least McKay is alive."

Sam didn't know if she could say that she wished Cam and Martouf were alive as well, not knowing what threats the Atlantis expedition faced. Well, she soon would find out, as would the rest of the SGC.

They were about to receive some of the most devastating and amazing news they could ever have imagined.

* * *

_"The great city can teach something that no university by itself can altogether impart: a vivid sense of the largeness of human brotherhood, a vivid sense of man's increasing obligation to man; a vivid sense of our absolutely dependence on one another." Seth Low_

_"Life is too short not to say how you feel to the people you love." Kristina McMorris, Letters From Home_

* * *

Response to reviews/reviewers:

No guest reviews this time. Watch this space in the next chapter.

Let me know what you think. R&R!


	14. Chap 13: The Siege

Disclaimer: I think everyone gets the gist of this now. Outside of my own characters, I own no one and nothing. Admittedly, I'm planning on creating an inter dimensional portal and grabbing all those lovely, hot men from Atlantis! But that's just semantics.

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**IMPORTANT NOTICE! READ BEFORE CONTINUING!**

**It honestly seems like I've been on a roll recently, charging through episodes like I've been possessed! I guess that sticking with a plan of chapter releases has made me very aware of my time free to write, so, here is another chapter for everyone to enjoy.**

**With this chapter written, I have now, officially completed Season 1 of Stargate Atlantis. Now, while I have the next couple of chapters ready and almost completely written, I will be going on a short hiatus – and I do mean short, nothing longer than a month at the most, two weeks at the least – just to relax for a bit and re-watch the beginning part of Season 2.**

**As a warning to all my readers, I am planning a split in the plot part way through the second season, so there will be a second story appearing in my list. Keep your eyes peeled, readers, and let me know your opinion.**

**While I'm away, I'll be keeping an eye on my inbox, so feel free to drop me a review or an PM question. I'll do my best to answer as quickly as I can, but do bear with me.**

**I would like to ask you to leave your opinions on what you think should happen - either in the next chapter or later in the series. While I have plenty of ideas, I want to hear what you all have to say.**

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**Chapter 13: The Gift That We Didn't Ask For Before The Siege Began**

**_THWAK!_**

**_THWAK!_**

**_KLAK!_**

**_THWAK!_**

**_KLAK!_**

**_THUD!_**

_"Ow!"_

Cam hissed as she rubbed at her bruised shoulder before she kicked her training bo-staff into the air. With under two weeks to prepare, the entire city had gone on the defensive, ordering numerous military members to a guard shift. At all hours there was at least one guard in the Gateroom, armed, another couple walking the gantries above and around the entire Gateroom and the Control Room. Around the naquadah generators in the city, also, was a guard.

That had been the start of the arming of the Ancient City. It had been quickly followed by the rest of the non-military members undergoing fighting and firing training most days now. Cam and her brother were excluded from the mandatory 'lessons', instead, the two preferring to keep up their traditional fighting. It felt like more than a small concession, the entirety of the senior staff knowing that the two could easily hold their own in a fight.

Ever since the notification of the Wraith coming for the City, those sparring session had quickly shifted to take place during the night or early in the morning after or before Cam was set to go and begin her solitary work as a translator; her department having been one of the first to be drained of people needed elsewhere in the City to prepare for the Wraith. They now had less than three days before the Wraith arrived.

"We can stop, Camilla," Martouf began, twirling his own staff, "if that is what you wish."

The woman shook her head and sighed, moving to twirl her own tiredly. "Let's carry on," she told her brother. "You landed your attack only because I wasn't prepared. Now I am."

The male Tok'ra nodded and Cam felt Kel'an's influence on her body as the adrenaline rush returned and the fatigue disappeared. "As you wish," he brother conceded.

He promptly attacked, spinning his staff as he stepped closer and made to swing the staff at her from over his head. Cam spun to one side, stopping the twirling of her staff and moving it in front of her as a block before she spun it around and gripped it firmly, moving to attack her brother with a jumping swing. Her brother deftly blocked her attack and returned it quickly and easily.

Cam groaned as her brother just grinned at her, moving to lean against his staff and she shook her head as she closed her eyes for a moment.

_You can kill the rush now, Kel', _she muttered. _It's not going to be doing me any more good this morning._ She tiredly rolled her shoulder.

**_I'll numb that, _**her friend muttered. **_You'll want to go and see Carson._**

The woman nodded as she stood up, opening her eyes. "You've got translations to get through," Martouf said, gently taking her staff from her. "I understand."

Cam sighed as she moved to the edge of the training matt and slid her feet into her boots. "Elizabeth wants three different translations done, Rodney and Zelenka another ten," she told him. "Not to mention the rest of the City." She sighed loudly now, running her hands over her face, even as her left arm hitched slightly. "I'm seriously considering creating an embargo."

Martouf chuckled as he joined her, slipping his own boots on. "McKay would have a fit," he said. "Elizabeth would understand, but if you are getting bogged down with all of this, then, sister, do so."

The woman shook her head. "I can't," she told him. "How did the mission to the planet Teyla wanted to visit go?"

Her brother chuckled again. "We came across a long abandoned Hive," he answered. "We took the data storage and came back." Her brother looked at her, giving her a mildly perturbed look as he seemed to mull over some information before he moved to the door to the gym and shut the doors, locking them.

Cam frowned at her brother's actions and stood. "What's wrong?" she asked him. "You don't act like this normally, Marty."

"Do not tell Bates," he told her firmly. "But Doctor Beckett did tests, at Teyla's request to look at her DNA, and he compared it to Wraith DNA."

Cam felt a hot ball of worry settle in the pit of her stomach as she looked at her brother. "She has Wraith DNA?" she asked.

Martouf nodded. "About as much in comparison as you have Ancient DNA and others do not," he answered. "Teyla's been going through various tests and experiments lately to try and figure out the range of the Wraith's mental abilities."

Cam shook her head at that, sighing moments later when she heard the familiar buzz of the radio in her ear and she tapped it at the same time as her brother tapped his. "Camilla Carter," she said tired.

_"Sorry, Camilla," _Elizabeth spoke. _"We've got a meeting about to begin and I need you and your brother to attend."_

Cam sighed and nodded. "We'll be there, Elizabeth," she promised.

A-A-A-A-A-A

"Not only has Teyla been able to ascertain that the Wraith are more interested in Earth than Atlantis, which is…" Rodney said, continuing the briefing as he gestured to the broad map of the path that the Wraith were taking. "You know… terrifying, she realised that the Hive ships will go right past the only surviving Lagrangian point satellite."

He glanced around the room as he pointed to the Ancient satellite weapon, seeing Elizabeth absorbing the information, noting information down in front of him.

"The last of what we assume were dozens of defence satellites destroyed during the Ancient's last stand with the Wraith," Zelenka tossed in and Rodney turned to look at him.

If there was one thing outside of certain death that he hated, it was being interrupted. "Yes, yes, yes," he snapped out, even as he noticed Camilla staring at the one screen, her eyes flicking from one side to the other as he assumed Kel'an absorbed the information as quickly and effectively as she could. "The point is, we think we can use it to our advantage."

"I thought you said it was dead," Sheppard tossed at him.

Rodney turned to look at the Major, nodding in recognition. "It is," he said. "But with translations offered by Ms. Carter, we think we've learned enough about how it works to bring it back."

The Tok'ra nodded at his comment politely. "If we are right about what is wrong with it," Zelenka threw in.

Rodney rolled his eyes at the Czech. "Yes, of course, if we're right about what's wrong with it!" he growled out. "But if we're right, and it's just out of power, the Wraith have simply been ignoring it."

Now he looked to Zelenka to add in his opinion. "Our preliminary estimates indicate a single naquadah generator would be enough to bring it back online," the other scientist said.

"Why can't we use our generators to get the weapons systems of Atlantis working?" Lieutenant Ford asked.

"Because the Ancient systems in Atlantis were designed with the intention of using the Zero Point Module to power them," Camilla spoke calmly. "It is extremely difficult to work our own, limited, generators into the system to provide enough power. From all available Ancient texts on the outpost, it appears that the satellite was designed to specifically not rely on Zero Point Modules."

"And it's powerful enough to take out a Wraith Hive ship?" Sheppard asked.

Rodney sighed, rolling his eyes. "According to the Ancient database, it should be able to take out all three when fully charged," he answered, a grin spreading across his face. "Keep in mind that the Ancient technology was far superior; they only lost the war because they were vastly outnumbered."

Sheppard snorted. "Well, we're vastly outnumbered!" he said.

"And outgunned!" Bates snapped.

"But the Wraith do not see the satellite as a threat," Zelenka returned calmly.

"In military parlance, surprise…" Rodney began before he froze, not really remembering the actually military term.

"What I think Rodney is trying to say, is that the element of surprise is on our side," Camilla said calmly, sending a small smile to Rodney, one he returned with a nod.

"What do you need?" Elizabeth asked.

Rodney sighed, taking a second to think it through. "The satellite's fifteen hours away by Puddle Jumper," he told her. "I recommend that we put together a small crew; say myself, Grodin and a pilot."

"I'll go," Sheppard offered.

Rodney felt better for the offer, but he knew that the Major was needed elsewhere in the city, not out on a long scientific mind orientated mission.

"No, Camilla can handle it, Major," Elizabeth said firmly. "I need you to keep searching for alternate Alpha sites, just in case this doesn't work." Rodney watched as the head of the expedition turned to look at Camilla. "Will you be able to pilot the Puddle Jumper?"

The Tok'ra nodded in answer. "I can," she answered. "I was going to suggest that I go along since there is the distinct possibility that more, immediate Ancient translations will be required on site."

Elizabeth nodded and Rodney took a breath. "The Hive ships will be in range of the satellite in forty-nine hours," he said as calmly as he could manage. "We're going to need every last second of that time."

Elizabeth nodded. "Questions?" she asked the room at large and Rodney heaved a sigh of relief at the lack thereof. "Ok, let's get on it." Rodney nodded and began to unplug the various screens, trying to conserve power as the meeting broke up. "Rodney, I don't mean to put undue pressure on you, but at this moment, that satellite is the only thing standing between the Wraith and Atlantis."

The scientist nodded in answer. He'd already figured that one out, already knowing it. He had to get Camilla to push the Jumper as fast as she could to get to the satellite. He felt Sheppard walk passed him.

"No undue pressure!" the Major commented quietly.

He looked after the man, well aware that his expression was anything but civil until Camilla touched his shoulder. "Let's get to work, Rodney," she said. "The sooner we get there, the sooner we can try and fix the satellite."

The scientist sighed and nodded, walking out of the briefing room as quickly as he dared.

A-A-A-A-A-A

**FIFTEEN HOURS LATER**

Cam sighed, rolling her shoulders as she piloted the Puddle Jumper calmly in the direction of the Ancient satellite, following the same path that she had taken last time. Because of the way that Rodney generally flew, she kept him away from the controls and since Peter Grodin was purely a scientist, she too kept him back, away from the controls that he knew nothing about.

"You doing okay?" Rodney asked her as he sat in the pilot's seat.

She nodded, sighing as she took her gaze off of the stars in front of her. "I'm fine, Rodney," she told him. "I may have been piloting for the better part of fifteen hours, but I'm good."

Kel'an chuckled in her mind. **_Just not your shoulder, kid, _**she muttered. **_Still working on that by the way._**

Cam just shook her head, a small smile on her face, even as she nodded to the space-suit in the back of the Jumper, placed there specifically for Rodney. "Hop in, Rodney," she told him. "I'm going to be piloting this thing, so…"

She heard the man groan as he stood up and moved into the back of the Jumper, shutting the bulkhead doors. The Tok'ra chuckled at that, shaking her head fondly as she dialled Atlantis, relaxed in the knowledge that the Gate was still connected to the Jumper.

"Dr. Weir," she said calmly after she had allowed ten seconds to pass, to let the Gate connect. "This is Camilla. We're approaching the satellite."

_"You're on the other side of the solar system, Camilla," _Elizabeth responded. _"You guys be careful out there."_

Cam chuckled softly in understanding. "Understood, Atlantis," she said. "We will be at the satellite in a few minutes, will report changes as and when they occur."

_"Of course," _Elizabeth agreed. _"Atlantis out."_

Cam shook her head as she hit the 'end' button on the Jumper's DHD. "You have rough schematics there, Peter?" she asked.

The British man nodded, tapping the screen of his datapad to bring the information up. "I have everything from the last excursion here," he answered.

_"Okay,"_ Rodney muttered through the comm. system. _"I'm ready. Get me in as close as you can."_

Cam nodded and took control over the Jumper again, firmly grasping the piloting joysticks. "Okay," she answered. "Things might get a little wild as I pilot in backwards to the docking port, but I'll get us in Rodney. Hold on while I move in."

She saw Peter, out of the corner of her, move to grab the edges of his seat as she carefully directed the Jumper as close to the docking port as she could before she turned the Jumper around and began to back it in to place. She heard the Jumper and the satellite connect and Cam let go of the joysticks, leaning forwards to tap at a few of the control crystals.

"Sealing the bulkhead doors," she said, knowing Rodney would hear. "Venting air in the back of the Jumper." She nodded as the HUD came up with the readings inside the Jumper. "You're good to go Rodney."

_"Okay, opening the back of the Jumper," _the Canadian scientist muttered. _"I have the generator."_

Cam nodded and just sat back in her seat, listening to her friend going inside the satellite. She frowned as his breathing quickly got heavier the longer he was in.

"Are you okay?" Peter asked.

_"Yes, why?" _Rodney asked.

"Your breathing is pretty heavy Rodney," Cam told him.

_"Yeah, well, I'm feeling a little claustrophobic," _the man responded shortly. _"How much air do these things hold anyway?"_

"Eight hours," Peter answered.

_"Well, that's enough right?" _Rodney asked, still breathing heavily. _"I mean, even with the heavy breathing? I mean, they would calculate that in, right?"_

Cam looked at Peter, seeing his shoulders shaking with barely muffled laughter. She shook her head with a small smile.

"You're going to be fine, Rodney," she told him.

_"Yeah, that's easy for you to say!" _the scientist responded. _"You're not the one with the eight hour ceiling on your breathing!"_

The Tok'ra shook her head with a soft smile, just listening and waiting to hear from Rodney again. It took a minute or so before Rodney spoke again.

_"It's completely dead," _he said.

"Well, we thought as much," Peter commented.

_"I'm going to hook up the naquadah generator," _Rodney told them. _"I'll see if I can get some life support going."_

A-A-A-A-A-A

It had taken about half an hour for Rodney to get life-support going at an acceptable level before Cam and Peter were able to join him. The Tok'ra was quick to notice as she floated along in the zero-gravity, that Rodney had shed the large and cumbersome space suit, instead he was in the red jumpsuit that both she and Peter wore.

Peter Grodin moved carefully down to the bottom area of the satellite, looking at the various screens as Cam made her way slightly slower, a datapad strapped to her waist as she clung to the metal rungs of the ladder and made her way down.

"Here we go!" Rodney called down from where he floated in the small tube that Cam was climbing down, moving carefully around the man.

She paused in her climbing, watching as the Ancient crystals – the ones that acted as lights in the satellite – came on with a soft glow.

"Primary power online," Peter reported as he moved across the bottom of the room. "Looks like life support's now at a hundred percent. I think I found the switch to initialise gravity."

Cam sighed and began to climb down again.

"Great," Rodney called down. "Just give me a second to-"

Then Cam felt it. She tightened her grip on the ladder's rungs as her body dropped with a sudden sense of gravity. Her head spun a heartbeat later as she heard Rodney scream before he fell at least twenty feet. Horror definitely crossed her face as she stared down at the man who lay prone on the floor.

"Rodney!" she called down.

"Oh yeah," the man groaned. "Yeah. That's permanent back damage!"

The Tok'ra gauged distances before she sighed and climbed down, moving at a quicker pace as she used her feet to anchor her body. Kel'an sped her along, her muscles contracting and expanding with movement at speeds a normal human body wasn't capable of and Cam turned the hard angle of the ladder where the small pipe widened at the bottom of the room for all the consoles built into the walls.

"Sorry," Peter offered the man. "I assumed it would come on more slowly."

Cam snorted. "Never assume," she told him. "Test first, _then _assume."

Rodney groaned as he rolled slowly onto his back, even as the Tok'ra finally touched the floor. "You assumed with my life," he hissed at Peter.

Kel'an hummed in Cam's mind and the woman felt her symbiote's concern for the man as the mild pain in her legs from climbing faded as she moved over to Rodney.

"You'll be fine," Peter said. "It was just a little bump."

Cam arched an eyebrow at him as she crouched down before the Canadian, taking a moment to carefully roll him onto his side, even as she saw him glaring at the other scientist. "What have you got?" Rodney asked as Cam shifted the position of her crouch and began gently probing his back; specifically his vertebrae and several ribs.

She glanced up at Peter, seeing him consulting a small hand-held device. "Looks like every system is back online," he answered calmly. "Except for the weapon."

Rodney waved a hand with a groan. "Ah, detail," he muttered. "Let's get to work."

Cam shook her head as her hand ghosted over his spine and she felt one of the vertebrae shift minutely. When Rodney held out a hand, she reluctantly pulled him to his feet as she stood, using her own strength to pull him with her.

**_If those vertebrae isn't broken or damaged in some form or another, _**Kel'an commented, **_then Dr. McKay is a very lucky man._**

She watched as Rodney shifted slightly and a loud noise came from his back, drawing a wince across his face. "Yeah," he muttered. "That's vertebra damage. That's a life of pain!"

The Tok'ra sighed at that and nodded to the nearby ladder. "I'll go to the Jumper and grab a couple of laptops, make translations and work easier," she told them.

_He's not so lucky, Kel', _she said quietly as she waited for the two men to respond.

Both Peter and Rodney nodded and Cam moved to do just that, racing up the Ancient ladder into the back of Jumper, moving to where she and Rodney had strapped down the multiple laptops they'd packed. She picked up three of them and put them into a duffle bag before she made the return journey back into the weapon, climbing the stairs quickly with the bag strapped across her back as she moved.

It took only a few minutes before the laptops were set up and running in the weapon's control room, Rodney on one of the upper levels, looking at the Ancient consoles there while Cam worked with Peter on the bottom level. "Well, it's not a power generation problem," Peter commented. "The naquadah generator's pumping out more than enough juice."

"Then why isn't it…?" Rodney asked before he sighed. "Okay. Alright, let's just step back here, think about it. This baby is a directed energy beam weapon – it runs of a relatively low-yield charge like our generator."

Cam nodded in answer. "So, for the energy to be effective off of a low-yield, there has to be something for it constantly build up a charge of energy, until it's discharged," she said, thinking things over slowly. "There has to be something like a buffer or a capacitor."

Peter nodded, shaking a finger before he moved to one of the laptops. "I think I found something like that," he said, typing quickly into the laptop, pulling up a quick schematic and scanning it before he nodded again, gesturing to the screen. "Yes, here it is." He frowned then and Cam moved to look over his shoulder, seeing the Ancient and quickly translating it. "Right now the buffer's at ninety percent."

Rodney sighed from above them. "Okay," he said. "So, power's getting to the buffer, it's just not getting to the actual weapon."

Cam nodded and patted Peter's shoulder. "Let me see if I can hack into a diagnostics programme here," she said.

She moved to the Ancient screens above the laptop and read the information on the screens before she began tapping at a few controls, following the options before she sighed. "There must be one here," Peter commented.

Rodney sighed again as Cam worked through the Ancient on the screens. "Okay," he said. "We've got twenty-nine hours 'til show-time, so let's hope we don't have to order parts."

The Tok'ra snorted at that. "I really hope we don't have to MacGyver any either, Rodney," she commented, still working.

A-A-A-A-A-A

It had taken Rodney the better part of an hour to hack the Ancient systems, something that he had been surprised Camilla had given up on. Well, that had been until he'd seen her move to an unobtrusive corner and fall asleep close to an hour ago – about as long as he'd been hacking. It looked like with all the skills of the Tok'ra working on her body for what appeared to be close to thirty straight hours already, she'd given into the urge to sleep.

"She's been awake now for three days," Grodin told him quietly.

The Englishman had obviously picked up on Camilla's sudden need for sleep. "She didn't sleep on the way in," Rodney agreed. "It's a fifteen hour flight."

"She's been working on the Ancient translations everyone's been sending to her since the Wraith began heading to the city," Grodin said quietly. "She's been working through the night to get everything finished before she gives in to helping everyone else."

Rodney sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "She's the only one who speaks, understands, Ancient better than the rest of us," he admitted. "She's far above the rest of us at third grade reading level, she's practically at university standards." He looked over at the sleeping woman, her hands tucked under her arms as her head rested against one of the Ancient pillars. "She makes us look like amateurs."

Camilla had deftly tucked herself into as small ball as she had managed, keeping as much of her body out of the way from everyone's paths.

"And we send our work to her," Grodin agreed before he frowned. "That is the first time I've heard you praising someone other than yourself." The man smiled slightly as he worked at one of the other laptops Camilla had brought down from the Jumper. "It's refreshing really."

Rodney shook his head and rolled his eyes. He could give credit where it was due and where Camilla was concerned with the Ancient language, he gave her credit for her skills. He grinned a moment later, opening a file and watching as schematics appeared on the Ancient screens.

"Ah," he said. "Schematics anyone?"

He heard Camilla groan before she appeared at his shoulder, rubbing her face tiredly as she looked at the screen, squinting at the information there as she appeared to slowly wake up fully.

"It looks like the power runs internally from the buffer to the actual weapon," she said after a few seconds.

Rodney sighed quietly. "I guess our guy took a hit," he said. "It must have disrupted the main power conduit."

"We need to reroute the power from our buffer to the actual weapon," Peter said as he moved to another laptop. "If we can do that, it will arm."

Rodney turned to snap something at the man, only to feel Camilla grip his shoulder and shake her head. He sighed and worked on his own laptop for a few seconds before he sighed. "Alright," he said. "We need to route power around these, uh damaged circuits. If we can do that, we should be laughing."

He frowned and looked at the schematics. "Okay," he admitted. "I'm disorientated." He pointed at the screens where the damaged circuits were shown. "Where are these?"

Camilla chuckled quietly, tiredly. "They're outside, Rodney," she told him.

Rodney started at that, and looked at the schematics. "What?!" he snapped out.

The Tok'ra sighed beside him and tapped the screen for a few seconds. "Look here," she said softly as the screen panned back from the schematics to show him the actual position of the highlighted circuits. "See?"

Rodney groaned. "Oh," he muttered. "Great."

"Someone will have to EVA," Grodin commented.

"There's nothing to hang on to," he protested.

Grodin sighed. "I'm not saying that it will be easy or safe," he said.

Rodney turned to walk over to him, Camilla joining him as they all met in the centre of the room. "Okay," he said. "Who goes?"

"We could draw straws," Grodin offered.

Rodney stared at the man. "Oh brilliant," he said. "Okay, Cam, draw out the straws."

"It doesn't have to be straws," Grodin snapped back at him. "We could do rock paper scissors."

The Tok'ra shook her head. "Three people," she said. "That method generally works when you've got two people."

Rodney sighed. "Anyone have a pencil?" he asked.

Camilla hummed, drawing one out from her pocket. "Got one," she said. "We playing straws?"

Rodney gestured for her to get on with breaking the pencil and watched as she promptly turned around. The two men heard her breaking the pencil into three before she shifted them into her hand. She turned around after a few more seconds, the length of the pieces hidden in her palm but for the very tips of the broken pencil. They all looked the same with the splintered ends peering out from the top of her hand.

"Shortest piece goes," Camilla said softly as she held her hand out between all three of them.

The three of them nodded, accepting the terms. They all took a deep breath.

Rodney nodded to the Brit. "You go first," he told Grodin, watching as the man drew out a long piece before smiling in relief. "Hmm. Well done. Good for you." Rodney sighed and reached out to grab one, drawing it out and wincing when he saw that it was shorter than Grodin's. "Cam?"

The woman turned her hand to one side and opened it, revealing the shortest piece. "Looks like I'm going," the woman said softly.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam rolled her shoulders as she settled the space suit over her body, struggling not to react to Rodney's flying, even as she knew the man was trying to be as careful as possible. She held the helmet in her right hand and carefully flicked the button to the small camera she'd insisted on using so Rodney could direct her if needed.

"We're away," Rodney commented.

_"It's not much more than thirty meters away," _Peter spoke in her ear.

Cam nodded, lifting the helmet up and onto her head, turning it until she heard the catch system connect and lock in place. "I'm ready to go," she told Rodney, watching as he carefully piloted the Jumper to where the co-ordinates she had plugged in directed the man to go to.

The Canadian nodded. "We're in place," he told her.

The Tok'ra smiled at him, switching the suit's lights on. "You know what to do, Rodney," she said softly as she palmed the compartment door shut between them.

She felt, seconds later, the artificial gravity of the Jumper disengage and heard the air slowly vent out. The Tok'ra smiled as she floated up before she grabbed hold of the netting and kept down from the top of the Jumper.

"Okay Rodney," she said. "You can open the rear hatch. When I'm in place, open the laptop and be ready to talk me through things if I need it."

_"Okay, Cam," _the man answered. _"Just use that knowledge of yours and things should be a cake walk."_

She shook head, smiling at that as the ramp lowered and the Tok'ra felt her eyes widen at the sight that met her. **_That's some distance, _**Kel' commented in awe. **_I'm ready when you are, kid._**

Cam sighed and took a deep breath before she launched herself out of the Jumper. She landed on one of the close-by pieces of the satellite before she did it again, pushing herself to the components. Cam could only stare at the burn and indentation marks on the surface of the housing for the circuits and whistled as she came to a stop, grabbing hold of one of the supports before she tied herself off and looked closer at the damage.

"You getting this Rodney?" she asked.

_"I am," _the man answered. _"The Wraith either got lucky or they knew what they were doing."_

The Tok'ra sighed as she set to work, carefully disengaging the housing cover and looking at the Ancient crystals there. "I'll go with lucky," she said. "They managed to hit the main power conduit." She shook her head slightly. "The connection's been severed quite nicely." She frowned, freezing as the Ancient knowledge in her mind started throwing ideas and patches at her. "I could try and re-route it through secondary conduits here."

_"That could bypass the whole problem," _Rodney agreed. _"Much like a quadruple bypass."_

Peter hummed in her ear. _"I can offer you some secondary conduits that could potentially work from here," _he said.

The Tok'ra nodded and set to work, pulling out the main crystal and looking at it. "We're only going to have one attempt to get the whole thing right," she said. "I'll get started here. Start throwing ideas at me and we'll get through this."

Hours later, Cam turned the last dial on the controls for the crystals and she leaned back slightly, quickly cataloguing the main and secondary crystals before she nodded. _"That's about as much as you can do, Camilla," _Rodney spoke tiredly in her ear. _"How are things looking with you, Grodin?"_

_"Power's getting through," _the man reported calmly. _"Everything's looking good."_

Cam heaved a sigh of relief and let out a tired laugh. "Oh, thank you!" she exclaimed. "I'm ending the EVA and heading back to the Jumper."

_"We're gonna pick you up and get the hell out of here," _Rodney agreed.

_"That sounds like a plan," _Peter said, sounding relieved.

Cam quickly untied herself from the satellite and turned before launching herself back towards the Jumper. "I'm coming in Rodney," she said. "Better be ready to catch me."

With a laugh, she saw the Jumper shift slightly in its position before it settled back into position, taking a few seconds to stop moving. Cam shook her head again, chuckling softly under her breath as she launched herself at the Jumper.

A-A-A-A-A-A

John groaned as he opened his eyes, feeling the sadly familiar tingling throughout his body of a Wraith Stunner. His body ached and burned with it and he knew from experience he wouldn't be able to move for an hour yet.

He had known, despite all the evidence pointing in the opposite direction, that Teyla had been innocent of attacking Bates. Now, he was sure of it, even as he felt the burning tingling settling through him.

Now, John mused to himself, if and when he got out the situation that was currently threatening to cook his goose, he wasn't going to listen to one of Zelenka's plans again if he ended up like he was now, again.

Groaning as the pain seemed to get worse, John honestly wondered where Teyla and Ford were, watching, helpless, as the Wraith approached him, taking out a knife as it knelt beside him. He couldn't physically move as the Wraith tore his tac vest and jacket open, only rolling his head to one side with a groan, the jerking movements making the pain his body burn stronger.

"Nothing will keep us from our new feeding ground," the Wraith snarled at him.

John watched as it lifted up it's free hand, making to feed and he resigned himself to Sumner's fate. It was only seconds later, before it managed to land its hand, that he heard a Wraith Stunner firing and he groaned again, this time in relief as the Wraith collapsed, stunned. After a few more seconds, he watched as both Ford and Teyla walked over to him, crouching down beside him as he heard their team moving to the other Marines he knew had been stunned.

"You were on VOX sir," Ford told him as he shifted slightly, looking at them. "We heard the whole thing and double-timed it."

"We got him, Major," Teyla told him firmly. "You're going to be okay."

John managed a slow and weak nod, the only thing he could do. He wanted to talk, but he knew he couldn't; the stunner still affecting him. Instead, John let his eyes slide shut and felt his mind drifting, not quite into unconsciousness, but away from everything else. It was the only thing he could do and he let it.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam shimmied out of the space suit, heaving a sigh of relief. While she knew it was necessary to wear it while outside of life-supported areas like the Jumper or the actual satellite itself the suit was heavy to wear in full gravity. She paused in her shimmying and hit the release for the ramp as Rodney carefully docked the Jumper.

She heard a grinding before the hatch refused to move and she tapped her earpiece with her free hand. "Peter," she said. "There's some trouble docking with the satellite on our end. Is there anything you can do?"

She heard a beeping from the British scientist's side of the radio before the man cursed. _"Oh dear," _he muttered.

"Oh dear what?" Rodney asked.

_"When we re-routed power from the buffer to the weapon, it looks like we inadvertently routed power away from the docking station and airlock. That's going to be a problem."_

The Tok'ra sighed and reversed her shimmying, getting back into the space suit. "We'll do it manually like we did the first time," she told him. "It's all about jimmying the iris' accordingly."

_"Rodney had the space suit that first time," _Peter told her. _"I don't. The air lock isn't pressurised."_

"Then…" Rodney began before he gripped the controls. "We'll go back and reroute the power again."

Cam twisted slightly and resealed herself into the suit. _"There isn't time enough to do that," _Peter said. _"The Wraith ships are too close for you to do anything."_

Cam snorted. "I know exactly what needs to be done this time," she said. "I can easily and quickly reroute power again, this time away from the dock and airlock."

_"Leave me here," _Peter ordered.

The Tok'ra froze mid-movement, looking at Rodney. "Well, we're not doing that," the scientist said.

_"Look, get to a safe distance and come and get me once the satellite has taken care of the Wraith ships," _Peter told her.

The Tok'ra growled quietly at that. "Peter," she said warningly.

_"It's the only option," _the scientist told her. _"You both know it. Besides, this way, I can power down the satellite until they're well within range. Then there will be no way for the Wraith to realise we brought it back online."_

Cam sighed and rubbed her face. "Alright," she agreed reluctantly. "We'll cloak the Jumper a distance away and come back for you when everything's said and done. I'll reroute the power when we come back."

Peter sighed. _"After it's done then," _he agreed. _"Now go, alert Atlantis and keep watch."_

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam rolled her shoulders as she sat in the pilot's seat, Rodney sitting next to her in the darkened Jumper. She kept one hand on the controls, her mind linked to the Jumper as she consciously kept several of the Jumper's secondary systems shut down, including the artificial gravity which had resulted in the lesser used seatbelts the seats had.

Rodney had reluctantly agreed to minimising their power output as he'd dialled Atlantis, the symbols glowing on the ship's DHD. Minutes after they had finished powering down the Jumper, Cam watched as the Wraith armada came out of hyperspace a distance away from the satellite – around an inch in size on the windscreen of the Jumper.

"If you've not powered up, now would be a good time," Rodney said firmly into his earpiece.

_"Powering up now," _Peter answered. _"We'll be weapons hot in sixty seconds."_

The Tok'ra nodded and tapped her own earpiece, activating her comm. connection to the city. "Dr. Weir, this is Camilla Carter," she spoke. "The satellite is armed and ready and should be ready to fire within the next minute or so. Keep your fingers crossed."

_"Fingers crossed," _Elizabeth said softly. _"Good luck."_

Cam watched as Rodney switched his connection from his earpiece to the internal speakers. _"Switching from manual to automatic firing mode," _Peter relayed to the sound of a quiet humming. _"Stand by."_

Rodney nodded. "Standing by," he responded.

It took a few seconds before the two of them saw a sudden burst of green energy erupting from the satellite. It struck the closest Wraith Hive ship before the ship exploded, cut in half.

"We have a kill, Atlantis," Cam said, trying to keep the inane glee out of her voice. "I repeat, we have a kill."

_"We copy that, Camilla," _Elizabeth said, even as the Tok'ra heard the cheering in the background.

"One down," Rodney commented. "Two Hive ships to go."

They watched as the Wraith ships suddenly moved to attack the satellite and Cam felt fear settling in her stomach. "Hit them again, Peter," she snapped out.

_"We have a problem," _the man answered.

"What?!" Rodney asked. "What problem?"

_"It looks like the circuit we rerouted has overloaded," _Peter answered. _"The weapon can't fire again. I'm trying to find another pathway."_

Cam saw Rodney's look and nodded, grasping the other control with her free hand. "We're coming to grab you," she told the scientist.

_"You stay exactly where you are," _Peter snapped.

"We are cloaked, they will _not _see us," she responded, already powering the various systems back up.

_"There is no time! Just get out of here!" _Peter snapped. "_I'm sorry."_

Rodney looked at her. "Get us back to that satellite," he ordered her firmly.

The Tok'ra nodded and started to move forwards only to gasp in horror as the remaining Hive ships fired a barrage of weapons blasts at the satellite, forcing parts to break off seconds before it exploded. The woman let go of the controls and covered her mouth, stifling a horrified sob.

"Oh god," she said, vaguely aware of the man beside her echoing th sentiment.

Rodney sighed, shaking his head. "Atlantis," he said. "This is McKay. We have lost the satellite."

_"Did you manage to take out any more ships?" _Elizabeth asked.

Cam shook her head, lowering her hands. "They're intact," she reported. "Two of the Hive ships we'd painted to be shot are intact."

"Elizabeth, Peter Grodin was aboard the satellite," Rodney reported, looking out at the remains.

_"Understood," _the woman responded. _"What's the status of the other two?"_

"They aren't coming any closer," Cam told her. "I think we've made them begin to rethink their plans. At the least, Peter Grodin has bought us some time."

_"You can't do any more out there," _Elizabeth said. _"Return to Atlantis."_

Cam nodded and sighed. "I'm going to get closer to the satellite and confirm, Elizabeth," she said. "If there are no life-signs, we'll be back within fifteen hours. Less if I can bypass enough systems in the Jumper."

A-A-A-A-A-A

John walked into the Control Room, watching as Rodney came down the flight of stairs that led up to the Jumper Bay. He frowned, not seeing Camilla with him as the Canadian came in, his shoulders slumped.

"Welcome back, Rodney," Elizabeth said sadly. "Where's Camilla?"

The Canadian sighed and jerked a thumb up at the ceiling. "She's in the Jumper," he answered. "Last I saw she was changing out of the jumpsuits we wore there." He shook his head. "She's in mourning, I think. She'd just started singing in Goa'uld when I left the Bay."

Elizabeth shared a look with John and he nodded, moving past the Canadian with a slight limp, his body still burning with pins and needles. He moved up the stairs quickly, jogging as fast as his body would allow before he entered the bay, pausing as he heard a soft voice singing in another language, coming from a Jumper on the floor.

John walked calmly over to it, pausing to glance around the edge of the lowered ramp, thankful that he could see that the woman was dressed in her Tok'ra uniform, the jacket loose as she held her head in her hands, singing softly in another language that John could only guess was Goa'uld. Despite the guttural tone to the words, the song had a lyrical, lilting tone to it.

He waited until she'd stopped singing before he moved into the Jumper. "Hey," he said softly, watching as her head shot up. "I heard about what happened."

The woman nodded and wiped at her eyes, red as they were. "I know," she said. "I just can't accept it." She shook her head then as John sat down beside her, watching as she ran a hand through her hair. "There was a problem bypassing some of the fried circuits," she told him. "We didn't know until we tried docking with the satellite that we'd taken power away from the dock and airlock. I was ready and willing to go back and do another reroute through another system, but he told us to get away, there wasn't enough time."

John grasped her shoulder. "He knew the risks of what was going to happen," he said. "It's not your fault, or Rodney's." He tilted his head at her slightly. "What were you singing?"

She smiled weakly, nodding as she bit her lip for a few seconds. "It's a Tok'ra funeral song," she answered. "Traditionally sung after the death of someone held in regards by the Tok'ra or a high ranking Tok'ra and then sung once a week – preferably every day if circumstances allow – for two months."

John nodded and offered his arm to her as he stood up. "We're evacuating now," he told her. "Elizabeth and Rodney should be arming the self-destruct now." He smiled weakly as he heard the alarm sounding. "Come on, your things are packed and on the Alpha Site. Let's go."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam raced down the stairs from the Jumper Bay at the sound of the Gate Klaxons going off beside the self destruct alarms, watching as Marines streamed through the Gate, Elizabeth and Rodney speaking to one at the bottom of the stairs. She raced to the balcony above them.

"Elizabeth!" she called down. "What the hell is going on? I thought we were in the middle of an evac not a recall!"

"Orders from Colonel Everett here," the woman called up to her. "As soon as everyone from Earth's arrived, we're to dial the Alpha Site and recall all military and willing. We're fighting."

The Tok'ra arched an eyebrow before she let Kel'an take control, letting the glow show in her quick burst of anger. **"Really?" **she asked as she launched herself off of the balcony and down to stand beside the leader of the city. **"We've just come back from the remains of the satellite where two Hive ships took out one of our own, and we're fighting against that with what?!"**

She slanted her gaze to the new man, one Colonel Everett, and waited. "We have rail guns ready to use," he answered her condescendingly. "They've done enough harm to Goa'uld Motherships, they'll do well enough against your Hives." He paused, looking at her with his blue eyes. "I was going to wait to speak to you in private, but considering my job here, I'll tell you now. General Jacob Carter passed away two months ago, taking the Tok'ra symbiote Selmak with him."

The Tok'ra stared at him, her jaw working slowly up and down as she waited for Camilla to take control, something the woman did reluctantly as she looked at the older man.

"Are you sure?" she asked quietly.

The man nodded, his expression stony. "I was friends with General Carter," he said. "I attended the funeral."

Cam felt Elizabeth grasping her shoulder gently before she rolled it off, stepping closer to the man, fighting the tears she desperately wanted to let loose. "Funny," she said quietly to him. "My father never mentioned you, Colonel. I've never heard any word pass from his lips about you."

Biting back any further words, she turned around and walked from the Gate Room, walking through the large number of men and women, pushing through groups as she finally started to cry, feeling the tears fall as she looked for somewhere private to just let go.

A-A-A-A-A-A

In the Atlantis standard day that followed, Cam mourned as much as she could working alongside the Marines and Air Force personnel in preparing the City for the Wraith attack. She helped in setting up the rail guns, carrying the larger pieces that the Marines couldn't, keeping the men able for the fight ahead.

Despite not having seen her brother, Cam knew that he'd been told, that he'd found out and she sighed, walking through the corridors of the City, nodding absently to the Marines she recognised.

Drawn into her thoughts, Cam knew that she could only hope to be able to sing the mourning song once a week instead of every day, the fight – and inevitable war – with the Wraith would take the focus of many off of mourning and the young Tok'ra resigned herself to that fate, even as she finally made her way to the Chair Room in Atlantis, watching from the doorway as Rodney and Zelenka worked together in trying to tie in a new Naquadah generator.

There was no one sat in the Chair as they worked and Cam found herself mildly relieved that Carson was not nearby as she quietly leaned against the metal support of the door, trying to be as quiet as she could, not wanting to disturb the two scientists but winced slightly as they both turned at some sound and looked at her.

Rodney placed his laptop down and calmly walked over to her and Cam smiled slightly at the concern she could see on his face, even as Zelenka made his way over as well.

"I'm alright, Rodney," she told him quietly, answering his unspoken question. When he merely looked at her the woman snorted gently, understanding his disbelief. "As well as I can be: knowing that my dad died before we ever thought of sending messages back." She took a breath and sighed, looking at the two scientists. "Is there anything I can do while I'm here?"

Rodney looked at her for a few seconds before he nodded slowly. "We need someone to power the Chair up while Zelenka and I look at what happens," he said. "We were about to call Carson in."

Cam gave him a weak, but genuine, smile at that. "The man's terrified of the Chair," she said, standing up from the doorway. "Point me at the Chair and I'll do what you want."

The older man gently grasped her shoulder and steered her to the Chair. "Just have a seat for now," he said. "I'll let you know when I want you to power it up."

The Tok'ra nodded as she walked up the dais and sat down carefully, keeping her mind clear of everything related to the chair as she waited. **_I'm so sorry, kid, _**Kel'an spoke in her mind, her tone as sad as they both felt. **_I'm so very sorry._**

Cam shook her head, closing her eyes as she focused on her friend. _You don't have anything to apologise for, Kel', _she said. _I don't blame you, I never could. I just hate myself for not apologising to Jacob before we left._

She heard Kel'an sigh. **_Hate is not the right emotion, Camilla, _**she told her. **_You certainly regret the words said. When we are able to return to Earth, go to the grave. He may be dead, but you can pay your respects. _**Her symbiote sighed again. **_While I may not believe in some form of an afterlife, the Tau'ri have many, the broad ideas of all giving some comfort to those who remain. Maybe, in that part of you that is a Tau'ri, a First One, you have that same belief. _**Kel'an chuckled mirthlessly at that. **_Jacob and Selmak may be dead, but they are no longer in pain, tortured by choices of the past. Focus on that my friend._**

Cam felt a hand on her shoulder and nodded, opening her eyes to look to Rodney, resolutely ignoring the tears she could feel in her eyes. "Okay," she said, shifting on the seat and getting comfortable. "Just on, right?"

Rodney nodded, hefting up a laptop connected to a cable. "Power it up, nothing else," he said. "If possible, run a diagnostics on the system."

The Tok'ra nodded as she rested her hands onto the touch-pads on the arm rests of the chair and let her mind fall into the Chair's systems. A heartbeat later she felt the entire Chair activate, heating up underneath her as the back of the Chair reclined slightly and the footrest lifted up. She closed her eyes after a moment and ordered a quick diagnostic run, frowning as she ordered it again, not trusting the first report.

"Okay," Rodney commented as information flashed in front of Cam's eyes, the report expanding into a detailed inventory at her order. "Good. Good. And… oh no."

Cam opened her eyes, still reading the information she could see and cursed at the number of drones she could readily access. "Drones?" she asked Rodney.

The man nodded as he disconnected the cable from the laptop. "Get out of the Chair," he ordered her. "We're going to the others. They need to know."

Cam nodded as she carefully pulled herself out of the Chair's mainframe.

A-A-A-A-A-A

John started at the sound of an unusual alarm blaring and raced out of the Jumper Bay and down the staircase into the Control Room. He held his P-90 at the ready – like everyone else in the City, he was armed, ready to fight at a moment's notice. He forced himself to stop in front of the base's DHD.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Camilla was sat next to one of the Gate technicians, her hands flying over the crystals. "The City's just detected a wave of incoming objects," the Tok'ra answered shortly.

"How many?" Colonel Everett asked.

"Hundred plus," another technician answered.

John frowned, the City should have picked up on the incoming Wraith darts long before now. "How come they weren't detected by the long range sensors?" he asked.

"Because they're rocks, asteroids!" Rodney answered as he looked at one screen. "The Wraith must have harvested them from the system's asteroid belt and accelerated them towards us from a safe distance."

Camilla shook her head tiredly as she laid a hand on the control panel. "The mainframe's taken this long to just determine that they were a threat," she said.

"Can they do much damage?" Elizabeth asked as John moved to follow after Colonel Everett who'd walked towards the screen showing all the information.

"Oh yeah," Rodney answered. "Admittedly most of them will burn off in the atmosphere, but… that's not why they're doing it."

"They're heading towards the mines," Everett said.

"And I'm guessing here, Colonel, that they can't be deactivated," Camilla asked, a hint of snark in her voice.

"No!" the man answered back.

John knew they should have left a few in reserve, especially after deploying them himself. He watched as the screen rotated to show the mines above the City and he watched as the asteroids impacted, taking four out in quick succession before the remaining ones followed suit.

"Well," Camilla said. "They made one hell of a bang, Colonel."

"I'm sure the Wraith's ears are ringing," Rodney said, leaning back in his seat.

John saw the despair on his face and he hated to badger his friend. "What's the status of the Hive ships?" he asked him.

Camilla shrugged at him, Everett turning to look at both the scientist and the linguist. "The sensors are overloaded," she said. "There's no way to tell because of the mines."

"How long until they're back up?" Everett asked.

"There's a lot of residual radiation," the technician supplied.

Rodney covered his eyes for a few seconds. "That'll keep us blind for hours," he said.

John sighed and nodded, running a hand over his face. "Yeah," he said. "Well, they're still out there – and we just lost our primary line of defence."

Camilla snorted at that. "Please add in the fact that we don't have as many drones as we hoped we would," she added. "A few dozen against the Wraith? Well… I've done better with a lot less!"

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam took up position in the Chair room after that, a P-90 and her Staff weapon ready to be used, the Goa'uld weapon leaning against a wall near the woman as she helped Rodney wire the mark 2 Naquadah generator into the Chair's power systems, using her Ancient knowledge to try and create stable patches where she was able.

She's also heard the call ten minutes previously that Wraith were incoming and had leapt in to help, even as she heard John running in.

"McKay! Fire it up!" he ordered, throwing himself into the Chair.

"It'll take a minute," Cam told him.

"We don't have a minute," John snapped at them.

Rodney growled. "Look, this generator can only power the Chair because it operates in a state of barely controlled overload!" he snapped.

"Just get the damn thing working!"

Cam turned to look at the man, crouched as she was. "What the hell do you think we're doing?!" she snapped at the man.

She returned to her panicked work, struggling to get the generator working and wired in. It took a minute before Rodney nodded, a humming from the generator filling the air.

"You've got power," Rodney ordered John. "Go!"

Cam turned and watched as the man activated the Chair, the dais lighting up and the chair itself reclining. Cam ushered the scientist to one of the laptops nearby.

"Go!" she told him. "I'll shut things down here when we're done."

The Canadian nodded and rushed off, moving to scan one machine. Cam stayed sitting on the dais, watching and waiting for the signal to switch off power. She got it a minute or so later from John as he deactivated the chair and the woman quickly shut down the mark 2.

"We managed to beat them off this time," she said.

John nodded as he stood up from the chair and offered her a hand. "There're going to be some serious cleaning up to do before they try again," he said. "You're going to want to see how your brother is doing aren't you."

The Tok'ra chuckled weakly as she nodded, taking his hand and letting him pull her to her feet. "We'll see you in the Control Room in the morning Rodney," she said. "Everett's going to want chapter and verse on what's happened here."

She walked out with John calmly, grabbing her Staff weapon on the way out.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam sighed as she took up a seat in the Chair again, shifting slightly before she moved her feet to the foot rest at the bottom. She nodded once to Rodney and Zelenka as she moved her hands to the control pads in the armrests before she sat back in the Chair and activated the systems, feeling the Chair recline easily.

"Okay, we're in business," Rodney said tiredly before he looked at Zelenka. "Head over to the Jumper Bay – radio me when you get there."

She saw the man disappear out of the room, even as she heard her brother walk in. "I have been wondering where you got to, sister," Martouf said as he walked into view.

Rodney walked around them, heading over to one of the laptops. "Don't get in my way," he ordered the male Tok'ra.

The man chuckled and raised his hands as he took a step back. "I will endeavour to do my best, doctor," he said with a smile. "I am here to keep watch over the pair of you in case the Wraith in the City get as far as the Chair Room."

The woman frowned. "Oh great," she muttered, keeping her mind as clear as she could. "Now I've got that to worry about." She laughed at the image. "I have my brother and a gun-wielding scientist to act as protection against the Wraith. I'm doomed."

Her brother chuckled again. "Hush, Camilla," he ordered her. "You have work to do here. I will keep watch over you and McKay."

"Speaking of which," Rodney spoke up tiredly. "Camilla, I need you to bring up a 3D schematic of both the Chair and Jumper One. I need to see what I'm working with."

The woman nodded and closed her eyes, concentrating on the required information, directing it to appear above her head like John had back in the Antarctic base. She sat there, concentrating on keeping the information there, her eyes closed to try and keep out all possible distractions.

"Well," Rodney muttered. "That certainly makes things _much _easier." The man grunted. "Finally, Zelenka! What did you do? Walk?!"

Cam shook her head with a fond smile and stayed in the Chair for the next few hours, adjusting things as Rodney ordered, altering the plans as well, trying not to become annoyed with the scientist as he descended into annoyed grumblings, verbal sparring with Zelenka when he wasn't working totally on trying to remote control the Jumpers.

So, when the woman heard Rodney's order to start up Jumper One, she nearly sobbed with relief and began, only to frown as her first attempt hit the proverbial wall. "One minute, Rodney," she muttered.

"I know you can do this," the Canadian muttered. "Just activate the Jumper."

The woman kept her eyes closed. "What do you think I'm trying to do?" she snapped at him. "I'm having to run through the circuits to get through, Rodney. The connection's there, it's just…" She grinned as she felt the familiar connection with the Jumper. "I'm in. Powering up."

Cam didn't hear anything for a few seconds before she heard Rodney sigh in relief. "Thank God!" he said, drawing a small smile from the female Tok'ra.

"Disconnecting," she said, carefully withdrawing her mind from the Chair as she felt it sitting her up again, lowering the foot rest.

She opened her eyes and looked at Rodney, watching as he sat down on the now dim dais, facing away from her. When he didn't move after resting his head in one hand, Cam looked at her brother as he hummed.

"When was the last time he slept?" Martouf asked her quietly.

Cam paused and leaned back slightly in the Chair, thinking. "I think two days ago," she answered. "He hadn't slept when we were at the satellite or on our way back."

The male Tok'ra nodded, even as Cam started at a short buzz in her left ear. _"This is Weir," _Elizabeth spoke, her voice apparently jerking Rodney awake. _"I've got the prototypes."_

Rodney groaned, nodded and stood slowly. "Prototypes," he muttered. "Right."

He left the room then and Cam just shook her head. "I can easily guess where he is going to be for the next while," she told her brother.

He laughed again, leaning against his Staff weapon. "And we are to remain here until he returns, then," he said.

A-A-A-A-A-A

**ONE ATLANTIS STANDARD DAY LATER, 1 HOUR AFTER NOTFICATION OF WRAITH ARRIVAL NEAR THE PLANET**

John heard Everett calling for everyone to get to battle stations. He was well aware of the fact that he needed to get to the Chair Room and get ready to remote pilot the Jumpers into place, the same ones that both Rodney and Zelenka has spent hours hooking into the Chair's systems and readying the Genii bombs.

He directed the group that had been following him to head down one corridor to the nearest naquadah generator to set up a guard in case the Wraith got into the City again. They really didn't need to lose any more power. He stepped inside the large room that housed the Ancient Chair and was treated to the sight of three people rushing about inside the room.

Camilla and Rodney were working with the generator and the laptop accordingly while Martouf moved between the two, offering aid where the man could.

"Everything ready, Rodney?" he asked.

The scientist grunted and waved at the Chair. "I know," he snapped out. "Wraith attacking again. Go ahead, sit. The generator should be up and running in a few seconds."

Camilla looked up then. "You'll want to ask the systems to show you the pathway I took to get into the Jumpers," she told him as he sat down in the Chair. "From there, control should be easy."

John nodded as he sat back in the Chair, trying to activate it as he relaxed his body and waited for the Chair to recline.

_"Sheppard, are you ready?" _Elizabeth asked through his radio.

"Rodney?" he asked, worried now that the Chair wasn't reacting.

Camilla and Martouf seemed to agree with his feeling as they both set to work on the generator, soft curses echoing from the pair of them before Rodney appeared to join them. "The generator's not powering up like it should be," the scientist told him.

_"They're sending in another wave!" _Elizabeth snapped into the radio. _"Major, we need to go!"_

John shifted in the chair and turned to look at the three working furiously on the large generator before Camilla stood up and moved quickly to the nearest laptop.

"McKay!" he snapped out.

"There's something wrong!" the scientist retorted. "Power levels are dropping."

_"Why are there no Jumpers in the air?!"_

Camilla groaned and hit the wall. "We must have exhausted the Mark 2's energy output with wiring the Jumpers in," she said. "It's dead!"

John looked up at the ceiling, quickly going through all the options, including how long it would take Rodney and Camilla to work a patch against how much damage the Wraith could do before he came to one conclusion, resigned to it.

"So long, Rodney," he said before jumping out of the Chair and racing from the room.

He heard Rodney and Camilla calling for him as he continued out of the room, racing towards the nearest Transporter to get to the nearest one to the Jumper Bay. It took only minutes for him to reach it and he hurriedly tapped the screen for the transport beneath the Control Room, racing out as soon as the doors opened for him.

He turned to the stairs and raced up them into the Control Room, seeing Elizabeth standing there, ordering the evacuation to begin.

"Elizabeth, wait," he told her, drawing her attention to him.

He saw the moment she realised what his plan was and he saw the fear as well. "You can't," she said.

John shook his head at her. "I have to and you know it," he told her.

"John…" she said, shaking her head before she looked away. "Go."

He nodded, turned and raced up the final flight of stairs that would take him to the Jumper Bay, tearing through the doors that barely had time to open for him before he raced passed Zelenka, ignoring the man as he hit the controls for the rear hatch, shutting the man out before he moved to the pilot's seat.

John knew Zelenka would radio in that he'd hijacked the Jumper, but he could care less as he directed the Jumper to take off, lifting up from the floor of the Bay and up and out of the Bay through the roof's iris. "Hopefully if I take this one out, the other one will back off," he said into the radio.

He certainly hoped that would happen. It would give whoever came next in the kamikaze run a bit more time to get ready, time he hadn't allowed himself, knowing full well he might have managed to talk himself out of it. He threaded his way out from the Darts attacking the City, pulling the cloak up as he flew, relaxing when none of the Wraith Darts attempted to follow his previous path.

"You know," he said into the radio, "if this works, somebody might have to do it again."

_"Understood, Major," _Camilla spoke. _"It's why I'm in the Control Room now, waiting for the order." _The woman snorted. _"I can tell you that my brother is currently having conniptions at the thought."_

John shook his head, ignoring everything now on the other end of the radio as he pushed the speed of the Jumper as fast as it could go, targeting the closest Hive ship.

"They haven't detected my approach," he said into the radio. "Weapon is armed and ready." He sighed. "I'm going in."

* * *

_"We remain essentially a nation under siege." Theodore C. Sorensen_

_"People under siege turn to use in complete frustration and I get a chance to go in when it's do or die." Curtis Sliwa_

_"Anything worth doing always starts as a bad idea." Leigh Bardugo, Siege and Storm_

* * *

I'm evil and I know it, leaving you all on a cliffhanger like this! upside is, you all won't be waiting that long to read what happens next. Please enjoy this chapter and let me know your opinions/reactions to this chapter. Have I missed something or left something out that you think should have been in this chapter? Do let me know, but remember, no flames!

* * *

Response to reviews/reviewers:

As always, this is the section for Guest reviews (something I allow) and I have not yet had any to reply to this chapter. Watch this section, Guests, if you review! I will answer here, directly, to you.


	15. Chap 14: The Seige (Final Part)

Disclaimer: I think everyone gets the gist of this now. Outside of my own characters, I own no one and nothing. Admittedly, I'm planning on creating an inter dimensional portal and grabbing all those lovely, hot men from Atlantis! But that's just semantics.

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**Okay. A few years ago, a friend of mine on another website did a series of wonderful images and an info sheet. He essentially gifted them to me and I promised him all those years ago, that I would use the gift in my writing and I have introduced his work here.**

**I promise you that there will be a lot more coming towards you from his gift here and I hope that everyone enjoys it. Oh, and the size information I give in this chapter is accurate. It took a little time to get a machine to handle the complete model, but I managed to get some key measurements and I'm still in shock months down the line.**

**If you all want to get a look at it, here it is (take out all the spaces, written dots and slashes and hopefully it should work!) jb 1992 dot deviantart dot com slash art slash Mech-gift-1-216092843**

**Now, on with the show. Please let me know what you think. This is also, by the way, the official end to my holiday, but I may take a little longer to update chapters for a little while as I try to get things running.**

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**Chapter 14: The Lifting Of The Siege… Amoung Other Things**

John almost turned back. _Almost. _He knew there was nothing else he could do as he neared the rear of one of the Hives, moving carefully out of the way of Darts that came out, ready to attack the City. He saw the technology ahead of him and wished that there was some way to get the sight back to Atlantis as he lined up the Jumper to head straight into the Hive.

_"Major Sheppard, decloak your Jumper immediately," _he heard an unfamiliar male voice order over his comm. system.

"What?!" he breathed, surprised by the new voice. "Who the hell is this?"

_"Authentication Alpha Charlie One," _the voice responded. _"Decloak now."_

John had been trained to respond to certain codes, and AC1 was certainly one of them. He did as ordered, hitting the release for the cloak just as the Jumper made its way inside the Hive.

A-A-A-A-A-A

**ATLANTIS CONTROL ROOM**

"Detonation in five, four," Rodney read out, "three, two…"

Cam stood with her brother and Rodney, watching with Carson and Elizabeth as the screen showed Jumper One flying towards one of the Hive ships before there was a large pulse on screen, the readings for the Jumper and the one Hive disappearing as a burst of white light pulsed outside the City.

"Target has been neutralised," one of the technicians told them.

Cam nodded as she forcibly swallowed past the lump in her throat. She'd lost her father, Selmak and now a close friend in a matter of days. If and when the _Daedalus _turned up, it would sadly be to an empty planet, the City destroyed, the majority of the expedition at the Alpha Site, minus one Tok'ra. Cam took a deep breath, readying herself for the sacrifice she had said she would make.

"He did it," Elizabeth said, the Tok'ra hearing the tears in the woman's voice.

Cam nodded again, feeling her brother clasping her shoulder before drawing her into a tight embrace, gripping the back of her head as she just buried her face against her brother's chest, feeling the tears begin to fall as she just grasped at the leather of his uniform. She let herself cry softly, quietly, knowing that it was probably the last time she would be able to.

**_It has been an honour to serve by your side, Camilla Carter, _**Kel'an whispered in her mind, sadness and remorse tinting her voice. **_I would not, nor cannot, wish for a better host to share my life with._**

Cam smiled weakly against her brother's chest. _I can only hope that dying as I plan to is not a disappointing death to you, Kel'an, _she replied. _I am forever thankful that I met you when I did._

"Dr. Weir," the technician called as an alarm sounded. "I'm picking up another ship."

Cam frowned through her tears and sniffed, lifting her head up, Kel'an's words lost as she focused on the situation at hand. "Another Hive ship?" she asked.

The technician shook his head. "Negative," he responded. "I'm reading IFF."

Cam stilled at that, her entire body tensing at the information. Identification, Friend or Foe was something she hadn't heard in the year since they'd been in the City. Only people from Earth, directly from, could broadcast like that.

_"Atlantis, this is Sheppard," _John's voice echoed through the comm. system in the Control Room.

Elizabeth stood stock still for a second. "John?!" she asked.

_"What other Sheppards do you know?" _came the typical retort from the man.

"Oh thank God!" Carson exclaimed.

"No, no," Rodney said. "That's can't be. We just saw the Hive ship go up."

_"I assure you, Dr. McKay, that Major Sheppard is alive and well," _a new, unfamiliar voice spoke.

Cam frowned, something she saw Elizabeth doing. "Who is this?" she asked.

_"Colonel Steven Caldwell, Commander of the _Daedalus_," _came the response. _"We are ready to assist you."_

Cam laughed then, wiping at her face. "Oh, thank you!" she heard Rodney mutter as he sat down.

"We are very glad to hear it, Colonel," Elizabeth said, a smile on her face as she input her code, the self-destruct alarm switching off seconds later. "And I assume we have you to thank for saving Major Sheppard."

_"We were monitoring your transmissions as soon as we came out of hyperspace," _Caldwell answered. _"We couldn't beam him in until he decloaked his Jumper."_

_"Didn't take much convincing," _John agreed.

_"Dr. McKay?" _Caldwell asked.

The Tok'ra head the man start awake. "Present, yes?" he asked.

_"I trust you'll know what to do with this?"_

For a moment, Rodney looked as confused as Cam felt until she saw a familiar light filling the Control Room as Cam recognised Asgard beaming technology at work, depositing two Marines, one holding a P-90 at the ready, another had one strapped to his chest while they held a sturdy grey, metal box in their hands.

The Marine nodded as the light faded. "Your ZPM, sir," the Marine said.

Cam grinned at the sight, almost laughing as she left her brother's embrace to join Rodney in looking at the new power source. The scientist beat her there as he grabbed the box, set it down on the floor and opened it to reveal the still glowing crystal.

"How did they do that?" Carson asked.

Cam grinned as Rodney carefully lifted out the ZPM. "The _Daedalus _is the latest in Earth made ships," she said. "The Asgard would have integrated their technology into this incarnation of the X-305 according to the treaty set up between Earth and Valhalla." She couldn't stop grinning. "One of the pieces of technology is the beam tech, taking an object or person from one point to another. There's more to it though-"

_"Rodney, Camilla," _John interrupted, stopping the woman from going any further. _"What say we get the shields back up?"_

Rodney chuckled and looked at the ZPM. "Yeah," he said. "What say we?"

Elizabeth chuckled and shook her head. "We still have Wraith in the City," she said.

_"After we deal with the other Hive ship, we'll assist you as soon as we can," _Caldwell promised. _"Caldwell out."_

Cam chuckled and shook, her head, running a hand through her hair. "Time to get to work, Rodney," she said. "A programme and installation and we should be done for the day."

The man smiled at her, carefully packing the Ancient crystal away. "I second that," he muttered. "I'm running on stimulants and one minute cat-naps here."

The Tok'ra chuckled again and stood, offering a hand to the man. "I can tell," she told him.

A few short minutes later, Cam pushed at Rodney's shoulders, hearing Zelenka charging down the stairs. "I brought up the shield's sub-routine," Rodney told her and the Czech. "When I give the word, all you have to do is punch it…"

Cam pushed a bit more firmly at his shoulders. "I know, Rodney," she replied. "I know. Now go and get the ZPM in place."

He looked at her before stooping down to grab the ZPM's box before he left the Control Room, heading to the stair case where the Tok'ra could see Elizabeth talking to a couple of Marines, telling them the route to take. Cam shook her head as Zelenka pulled up a chair beside her and Martouf.

"How much more efficient can we make the shield?" Cam asked him. "It drains power, so we need to limit that."

The man leaned back in his seat before he grabbed another laptop and began to work, editing a copy of the subroutines, even as the two Tok'ra watched, looking at the codes he was altering slightly.

"We have a kill!" a technician called out after a few minutes. "The last Hive ship has been neutralised."

Cam smiled at that, sharing one with Elizabeth. They were winning against the Wraith, so it was entirely possible for them to win the war and defeat them.

_"Elizabeth, you've got a problem," _John said, the comm. system reactivating.

Cam looked up at the monitor that had been set up to keep watch over the City and the Wraith ships. "Yeah," she said. "We can see that."

_"We're moving to intercept, but I don't think we can get there in time."_

The technician shook his head. "Not a chance," he said. "They're coming in too fast."

Zelenka groaned. "Oh God," he muttered. "Their approach is ballistic."

Cam frowned and returned her attention to his laptop, her face turning pale at the readings. "What exactly does that mean?" Elizabeth asked.

Cam swallowed convulsively for a moment. "When they impact the city, their velocities will be in excess of ten thousand kilometres an hours, Elizabeth," she said. "Nothing in the City can withstand that."

_"You better get the damned shield up," _John snapped out.

"How much time do we have?" Elizabeth asked them.

Zelenka swallowed. "Forty five seconds," he said.

Elizabeth walked off. "Rodney, we need a shield up in forty seconds or we're dead!" she snapped into her radio.

Cam readied the subroutines, not hearing Rodney's reply as she heard the balcony door sliding open. "No!" Elizabeth snapped in response to something Rodney snapped at her before she growled. "Rodney!"

When Elizabeth looked at them, nodding her head, Cam hit enter on the subroutines before she shook her head. "Not accepted," she said.

"That didn't do it," Elizabeth reported. "Twenty seconds!"

When Elizabeth nodded with seconds to spare, Cam hit the keys again, grinning as the order was accepted. "Yes!" she said. "We are go!"

She heard the City humming as the shields came up and laughed with relieved glee. They'd done it. They'd gotten the shields up, held the Wraith off.

Cam looked up at the sound of multiple explosions against the shield and stood up from her laptop, moving to join Elizabeth and Zelenka at the doorway. They just stared at the slowly dissipating explosions, waiting for something before static filled everyone's ears.

_"…Eli..eth….. I… peat… This is Sheppard. What is your status?" _John's garbled and static-filled voice came back over their comm. system.

"The explosions must have disrupted radio signals," Zelenka commented quietly as Elizabeth nodded.

"Well," she answered. "We're still here. That's our status."

They all heard an audibly sigh of relief. _"Don't scare me like that!"_

Elizabeth smiled slightly. "Sorry," she offered. "What about the Wraith fleet?"

_"The remaining cruisers have withdrawn from the battle," _Caldwell told them.

Elizabeth nodded and Cam saw her shoulders sag slightly in relaxation. "Thank you, Colonel," she said. "Thank all of you."

_"Glad to be of help," _Caldwell answered. _"We're going to stay in geosynchronous orbit for the time being. Can we be of any further assistance?"_

Elizabeth nodded. "We could use some help with the Wraith in the City," she said.

_"We'll send in some people to help with that," _Caldwell said. _"Ms. Carter?"_

Cam hummed and stood up straighter. "Yes sir?" she asked.

_"Stargate Command discovered some machinery that might be of service once decoded properly," _Caldwell reported. _"Do you have a large room available for machinery of roughly thirty meters square with room to move comfortably around it?"_

Cam frowned at the size information before she ran through the rooms they'd discovered in the city, quickly crossing off rooms far too small before she hummed. "There's a secondary mess hall at the bottom of the main tower," she answered. "It's slated to be used as a communal lab for large products."

_"You might wish to go down to the room in question, Ms. Carter," _Caldwell told her. _"I'll send down a datapad of information with Major Sheppard."_

Cam nodded and rubbed at her face tiredly. "I'll be waiting, sir," she answered. "And I'll notify the people in the area of an incoming piece of machinery."

_"_Daedalus _out."_

Cam shook her head with a soft smile, smothering a laugh. "I knew there was a reason I hadn't missed the Air Force manner of command," she said. "Well, it's time to notify the various Military personnel and scientists down in that room. I'll be holed up there as soon as John gets here."

Elizabeth chuckled and nodded. "We're done for the day," she said. "Get some rest."

The Tok'ra snorted. "Not until I know that we won't be fighting any time soon," she retorted. "I'll sleep once the Wraith are taken care of."

A-A-A-A-A-A

John held onto the datapad that Novak had handed him, with very firm orders to hand over to Camilla Carter when he arrived in the City. Now that he knew what to expect with the beaming technology, he barely shuddered as Hermiod the Asgard beamed him straight into the Gate Room of the City with a small convoy of five more Marines. He nodded to the one guard on duty, the man automatically pointing his weapon at him before relaxing and saluting him.

"Secure Stargate Operations," he ordered the new Marines, relaxing slightly as they did as ordered, even as he noticed Camilla standing up from the steps leading up to the landing between the Control Room and the Briefing Room while he extended both arms out with a smile, holding the datapad in his left hand. "Well, I'm home."

The woman laughed and John was surprised as she embraced him quickly. Not really understanding or knowing what to do, John nervously – if asked he'd lie under oath! – returned it until the Tok'ra pulled back.

"Yes you are," she said, still smiling. "We all thought you'd…"

John nodded she stepped back slightly. "Now you know how I felt just now," he said before he held out the datapad to her. "Special delivery from the _Daedalus_."

Camilla smiled as she took it and swiped the screen, frowning at what appeared there before she shook her head and locked the screen. "Anything you want to know?" she asked, looking up from the datapad.

"Where are we?" he asked.

Camilla bit her lip, apparently cataloguing things. "Most of the sensors are still down," she reported to him. "But, despite all that, we know there are still some Wraith in the City."

John sighed. "Still got some work to do then," he muttered.

Camilla held up a hand. "Before _you _do anything, John," she said, "Colonel Everett insists on speaking with you." She sighed. "He's in the Infirmary, semi-private room."

John felt his heart sink at the news. "Do I want to know what happened?" he asked.

The woman shrugged in answer. "I haven't seen him since before the Wraith started the attack, not that I've really wanted to, mind," she told him. "But Carson's placed him in a semi-private room as soon as he was admitted. He passed the message to me to give to you."

He nodded, taking a deep breath. "Where will you be?" he asked her.

Camilla lifted up the datapad. "I'll be at the bottom of the Tower," she answered. "They'll have beamed down everything I'm going to be working on. I'm taking a team of Marines down with me."

John nodded, remembering the conversation Caldwell had held on the Bridge before he'd been beamed down. "I remember," he told her. "Go."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam stared at the datapad in her arms, reading the information there, her mind translating the Goa'uld that had been written in the manner of Ancient even as she jotted down the translation into English. Her eyes gazed over the completed message and then the attached schematics.

_Camilla,_

_Writing in such a harsh, guttural language certainly does not become me, my old friend, but for the sanity of everyone, I felt it necessary to write like this. When you came to me, you didn't know of the knowledge of my people, not knowing our full abilities, you spoke with us like a curious child._

_But, in honesty, I have already written too much. We spoke often of a machine like this through your various talks with our kind. While the rest did not always see your views, we spoke often, planning about this and I can only hope that with the liberties I took with this, that you are not disappointed or ashamed of what I have done to your precious work._

_Please, enjoy, my old friend._

_Regards,_

_A Friend_

The woman shook her head and looked up at the giant machinery in front of her, seeing a symbol on both of the legs and she felt her heart stutter at the sight.

**_I'd recognise those anywhere, _**Kel'an said. **_I came up with those during one of the many briefings Al'ek was present in the distribution of Tok'ra forces. You know well that he was slated to work for Anubis before he was killed on that last mission._**

Cam nodded at the sight of the mildly stylised Anubis marks she could make out on the leg, one mirrored on the other. With the size of the Mechanoid, the woman could only whistle quietly as she realised completely just how big it was; she stood well over a meter tall and under two, and she only just stood taller than the top of the bird-styled metal foot. With the sheer size of the machine, Cam knew she would have to set up an easy system to get to the top of the machine and inside it.

Shaking her head, Cam turned her attention to the datapad in her arms, tapping the screen to bring up the schematics, reading the text that stood in Ancient, her eyes widening further at the word 'Naquadria'. As far as she knew, the only planet with a natural deposit of the naquadah based element of Kelowna, Jonas' homeworld.

"Good Lord, that's huge!" she heard John exclaim as he walked in, drawing her out of her thoughts.

She looked away from the mechanoid and over at the armed man as he walked over, his gaze fixed on the mechanoid. "It stands nearly twenty meters from back to front, twenty five wide – not including the spread of the feet – and very nearly thirty high," she told him. "And I haven't even tried to get inside."

She saw his frown as he tore his eyes from the machine to look at her. "Why?" he asked. "If something like this can help against the Wraith, we should use it."

The Tok'ra understood that and sighed. _You're up Kel', _she thought. "I'll let Kel' tell you why."

She bowed her head for a second, feeling Kel'an quickly making the exchange as she stepped back from control. The glow from the exchange dampened behind her closed eyes before Kel'an lifted her head, looking at Major Sheppard as she shifted her body to a slightly more comfortable position.

**"Major," **she said politely in greeting.

The man nodded in response. "Camilla said you'd explain," he said.

Kel'an nodded and gestured to the symbols on the legs of the mechanoid high above them. **"Those symbols were designed by my previous host when he was still alive," **she said simply, shaking her head sadly. **"We both called the symbols on the legs Anubis Tenoids, a reference to the System Lord we were to next work for, to infiltrate. Al'ek died and Camilla took on the rest of the task, creating a numerical system and a word structure since she was a child."**

"Who else knew?" Sheppard asked her.

Kel'an shrugged. **"A select few of the Tok'ra and a couple of people from the Tollan," **she answered. **"The Tok'ra have no access to materials to make this and the Tollan people were wiped out a year after Martouf was killed." **She shook her head tiredly, sadly, at the memories invoked. **"What both Camilla and myself wish to know, Major, is how someone managed to get a hold of the _incomplete _schematics for this, make it and complete it with touches that the both of us would have wanted."**

She ran a hand through her hair, mimicking Camilla from the way Sheppard seemed to smile slightly. "Are they safe to use?" he asked.

Kel'an shrugged, looking at the mechanoid. **"They could be," **she said. **"But…"**

She saw the man waiting and wordlessly brought up the translated message left for her host and handed the datapad to the Major, letting him read it as she moved over to the mechanoid and laid a hand against the metal of one of the metal feet. She started slightly as she felt something connect to her mind, Ancient racing across her field of vision before solidifying and stabilising into information in front of her.

**Welcome Kel'an of Tok'ra, symbiote of Camilla Carter of Earth. Tenoid-Mech-3 is ready for use.**

**List of allowed personnel to 'drive' Tenoid-Mech-3: N/A. No personnel have been added to list since completion.**

**Information of Tenoid-Mech-3 capabilities is available upon request.**

**Are there any queries?**

The Tok'ra frowned at the information and the question, her hand still on the mech. **_List of weapons capabilities, _**she ordered.

**Weapons available in Tenoid-Mech-3: Missile pod-box; HET-PG; Quad rail-gun**

**Missile pod-box: Double missile pods on front of both bipedal legs. 1 missile pod holds 8 rocket-propelled projectiles, directed using internalised artificial intelligence system that locks on to target.**

**HET-PG: High Energy Trans-phase Pulse Gun, directed energy weapon. Strength of one blast is enough to destroy armoured door. Energy moves at near speed of light, but consumes large percentage of energy.**

**Quad rail-gun: Found beneath monitor pod in Tenoid-Mech-3, 1 on each side of monitor pod. Rail-gun fires mini gyro-rocket-bullets – human size classification of 30mm – at speed nearing Mach 5. Single rocket-bullet can reach Mach 7 depending on gravity point of planet or ship being used.**

**Addendum: Optical TST sensors found both above and below Tenoid-Mech-3 all for non-lethal blast similar to Staff weapon.**

**Are there any further queries?**

Kel'an started at the level of information before she stepped back from her control, letting Camilla take it back, both relaxing as the information stayed in front of their eyes.

**Welcome Camilla Carter of Earth. Are there any further queries?**

Cam sighed and shook her head. _No further queries, _she responded. _Allow Major John Sheppard status to drive as well as extend my access capabilities to him. Drive note for others, use human languages known to user: English, German, French, Czech some of the more common languages. Update accordingly._

**Understood. Preferences saved and will be uploaded to Tenoid-Mechs-1,2,4,5,6 at next available time period. More Tenoid-Mechs are currently in construction and preferences will be uploaded when next in short-range communications.**

The girl sighed and nodded, withdrawing her hand as she felt John gently shaking her shoulder. "You okay?" the man asked. "You spaced out for a minute there."

Cam nodded and rubbed her face tiredly. "Just got an education on these things," she told him, surprising the man who obviously thought Kel'an was in control. "Neural connection to the user. Surprisingly safe actually considering the connection type."

She watched as the man laid his hand on the foot, chuckling moments later as he yanked it back as if he had been scalded. "What the-?!" he snapped.

The Tok'ra chuckled again. "You're part of the allowed personnel, John," she said. "Now, any more information from the top of the City?"

The man eyed the Tenoid-Mech warily for a second before he looked at her. "We found Ford out in the ocean," he said. "Wraith attached. Carson's going to try and wean him off."

Cam felt her heart drop at the information. "I can go up to the Control Room, if needed," she said. "The Tenoid-Mech will not let anyone else drive it."

"Oh, and we've got twelve Hive ships to worry about."

"Mai'tac! Oh great! Just what I needed to know; I already have enough to deal with alongside lack of sleep."

A-A-A-A-A-A

**FIFTY LIGHT YEARS AWAY, SEVERAL, LONG HOURS LATER**

Cam had to appreciate the skill that had gone to into building the _Daedalus _as she stood on the bridge, her Staff weapon slung across her back as she saw the Hyperspace window fading away to reveal the black starry expanse of the final stop the Wraith Hive ships would take before trying for Atlantis.

The _Prometheus _wouldn't have been able to manage the distance as easily as the _Daedalus, _something that the Tok'ra was immensely grateful for. The _Daedalus_ could theoretically take more damage that the first Earth-made ship, but against the Wraith and without a ZPM powering the shields, the woman was unsure how far that would actually extend.

"Scanners are clear, sir," the weapons officer reported. "No contacts."

Caldwell sighed. "I hope we're in the right spot," he said.

Cam grinned at that. "We are," she told the man. "Where Rodney's projections are concerned, we've come to trust him on them."

John grunted. "They'll either come out here, or really close," he agreed. "We'll have the upper hand."

The Tok'ra nodded. "It would help if we hit the first one or two directly after they exit Hyperspace, sir," she told him. "It should send a message."

"Who knows," Caldwell said, "maybe they'll surrender."

Cam smile slightly at that, one that she saw John returning slightly. "We can hope, sir," he said. "We can hope."

"Sir, we have a contact!" the weapons officer called out seconds before Cam looked out of the view screen, seeing a hyperspace window opening up a short distance in front of them, the window thankfully facing away from them.

"Stand by for weapons deployment," Caldwell ordered. "Shields at max power."

"Shields up," the weapons officer relayed.

Cam felt her gut clench in a quick burst of fear at the sight of the twelve Hive ships coming out of the hyperspace window, each taking up a position in an arrow formation. "Novak, this is Caldwell," the Colonel spoke into his own comm. system. "Begin deployment at your discretion."

There was a moment of silence as Engineering worked. _"First weapon away, Colonel," _Novak reported.

With that notification, Cam watched as the Hive ship closest to the rear of the formation exploded. "That's a kill," the weapons officer reported.

_"Stand by," _Novak said seconds before a Hive on the other arm of the arrow formation exploded, taking out a few of the smaller ships as it was destroyed,

"Alright," John muttered. "That's two."

"The other Hive ships are altering course to intercept," the weapons officer reported.

Cam bit back a groan at that. Having the Hives closer would cause a nightmare for the Asgard beaming technology despite them having one of the Asgard's experts on the technology.

"Take us right at 'em," Caldwell ordered.

"Yes sir," the helm officer answered.

Cam moved her Staff Weapon from her back to in front of her, gripping the familiar material in her palms as she watched the Wraith opening fire on the _Daedalus, _the human ship easily returning fire.

"They're flanking us," John said after a few seconds, forcing the woman to look at him as he stood behind the weapon's officer, looking at the screen.

"Forward rail-guns, return fire," Caldwell ordered. "Novak, we need to speed up the deployment of those nukes or this fight in gonna be over soon."

Cam clung to the nearest metal over-hang above her as John appeared at her side, the man doing the same as they both looked out on the battle in front of them. "Well," the woman muttered. "This is going very differently to what I had hoped."

John grunted as the_ Daedalus _shook slightly. "You and me both," he said.

_"Colonel, we have a problem," _Novak spoke through the comm. system. _"They've found a way to jam us from beaming onto their ships. We don't know how."_

"Rear shield emitters are down to forty percent!" the weapons officer called out, even as one of the consoles at the back of the bridge exploded.

With that, Cam quickly made the journey, helping John grab the woman who had been working at the console, dragging her away as other members of the crew moved to put out the fire.

"Ventral rail-gun two is out of action!" the weapons officer called out.

"Engines to max," Caldwell ordered. "Foster!"

The female helm officer nodded as she worked. "Sir," she responded.

"Try keeping the damaged shield from the main force," he ordered her.

"Sir!" the weapons officer called. "One of the cruisers is approaching on a parallel course."

Cam felt her heart stop at that. "They may intend to board us," she told Caldwell. "That was part of their strategy when they were attacking Atlantis."

"Shield status?" Caldwell asked.

"Under twenty percent," the weapons officer responded.

"Set course for Atlantis," Caldwell ordered. "Engage hyperdrive."

Cam heard the corresponding agreement. "This fight is over," Caldwell said as the _Daedalus _turned from the fight and quickly entered a hyperspace window.

A-A-A-A-A-A

**FIFTEEN HOURS LATER**

"The bottom line is, it didn't work," Caldwell said into the comm. system as he leaned against the back of the command chair.

During the first part of the return trip to Atlantis, everyone had jumped in to work where some of the more accessibly damaged areas to be gotten to be repaired as much as could be possibly done on the journey back to the Ancient city. They'd stopped halfway back to give the hyperdrive core time to cool down and rest before they made the last jump as well as to contact the city on the subspace systems both the human and Ancient vessels had.

_"Well, at least you gave them something to think about," _Elizabeth responded.

Caldwell shook his head. "We'll see," he said. "I doubt very much that that tactic will work again, and the_ Daedalus _has sustained damage."

John sighed, shaking his own head. "It was still the right thing to do," he said quietly before he raised his voice for the comm. system. "We should make it back home before they do."

_"I hope so," _Elizabeth said.

Cam decided to speak up at that point. "Rodney," she said, knowing the man had been listening. "If we're going to be using the shields when we get back, you're going to need more power to tie in."

She heard the man groan. _"This is going to get Carson involved, you know that right?" _he responded. _"If we do the same tie in system, you're going to need two nurses, an IV line and three bags of O-Negative blood. As well as several coffee cups for the two of us."_

Cam nodded. "Not including the various monitoring machines," she agreed. "But if we're going to lessen the drain on the ZPM, we need to do it."

She heard the Canadian scientist sigh. _"I'll get you set up in the Briefing Room," _he said after a few seconds. _"It'll make things a bit easier tying you in through the consoles here."_

_"We'll get everything ready here," _Elizabeth said. _"We'll keep the porch light on for you."_

When Elizabeth cut the connection, she felt both John and Caldwell looking at her. John's was more of a worried look while Caldwell seemed perplexed by what had happened.

"You sure you want to tie yourself into the power grid?" John asked her. "Your hands will get bloody very quickly."

The woman rolled her eyes. "Wouldn't offered and said what I did if I didn't," she told him before she looked at Caldwell. "Have you read about what Ascension does to the human body?" she asked the man.

He nodded in answer. "I've read the files on General O'Neill and Dr. Jackson," he told her. "I've read their accounts of Ascension."

Cam nodded at that. "Well," she began before pausing, struggling to get the words right.

"What she's trying to say, sir," John interrupted, "is that because of the Ancient Knowledge in her head, she's being pushed along the same lines. She's got a couple of things she can do."

Caldwell arched and eyebrow at the Tok'ra. "Such as?" he asked.

Cam shrugged a shoulder. "Offensive weapon doubling as a power source generated from my hands," she said, lifting her open palms into view. "And a detectors of sorts in regards to the Ancients." She shrugged her shoulder again. "It's not much, but the power generation can be a little useful once we've started harnessing it."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Elizabeth raced down the corridors of Atlantis' East pier, not surprised when she literally ran into John and Camilla, the woman looking decided under-dressed as she wore monitoring pads on her upper body, her Tok'ra shirt draped over one arm while Caldwell appeared behind the two.

"Welcome to Atlantis, Colonel," Elizabeth greeted the man.

"The Wraith are right behind us," John told her as they continued walking, forcing her to turn around.

"I wasn't expecting you to land," Elizabeth commented as they walked fast through the doorways she had gone through to get to them.

"Until the repairs on the _Daedalus_ are completed, Elizabeth," Camilla spoke, "then they will need the shields of Atlantis as much as we will. Speaking of which, I need to get to the Briefing Room to let the nurses and Rodney hook me up."

Elizabeth nodded at the Tok'ra host. "Go ahead," she said. "The sooner you're in the system, the sooner you can help with the shields."

The leader of Atlantis saw Camilla nod at her before she ran down the hallway leading to the transporter that Elizabeth had used. Elizabeth shook her head at the sight of the woman disappearing far too fast down the corridors

_"Dr. Weir," _a technician said in her ear after she heard it buzzing in her ear as it activated. _"The Hive ships are emerging from hyperspace."_

Elizabeth bit back a groan as they all sped up to follow after Camilla. "We're on our way," she responded. "Camilla Carter will reach the Control Room before we do."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Rodney waited until Camilla had settled into helping power the shield, the two palm-sized balls of energy floating in her palms that were near the cable hook ups that he'd employed weeks earlier to help power the transmission through the Gate.

He nodded once to Martouf, the male Tok'ra keeping watch over his sister as she meditated in the room. After the last time, Rodney had remembered to bring in towels for Camilla to sit on so that her hands could bleed to their heart's content and allow Carson something physical to measure her blood loos by.

He turned and raced to the Control Room ahead of Elizabeth, John and the small contingent they'd brought from the _Daedalus_. "They're getting into some sort of formation," one of the technicians called.

Rodney weaved through a couple of the consoles. "Move, move!" he ordered the female technician at the one console he needed to be at.

He'd only just sat down and looked at the information when he heard impacts on the shield and Rodney couldn't help but look up nervously before he looked back at the readouts, quickly interpreting the data. "The shield's holding under the bombardment," he reported. "But it's under considerable strain."

"How long will it hold?" Elizabeth asked.

Rodney shrugged a shoulder. "Well, if they stop firing at it, it'll last almost indefinitely," he began, "but…"

"Are we talking months? Weeks?"

Rodney sighed and shook his head, not needing to see the numbers. "Days," he told her. "At this rate the ZPM will be depleted within days." He saw Elizabeth's shoulders slumping at the same time as unknown expressions flitting across Colonel Caldwell and John's faces. "Even with Camilla providing an almost constant supply of Ascended Energy, there's not enough energy to last more than a week." He shook his head. "Camilla can't provide enough energy to shield even a square inch of the shield by herself and she won't be able to last long enough to make a difference; we'll run out of blood to give her and she'll bleed out and die before we can get more in."

A-A-A-A-A-A

John looked up at the bombardment of Wraith weapons on the shield, his arms crossed slightly as his hands rested on the butt of his P-90 that was strapped to his tac vest. He stood next to Rodney, the both of them standing on the balcony attached to the Control Room.

"It's almost pretty, isn't it?" Rodney asked.

John smirked slightly, chuckling under his breath. He could see where Rodney was coming from, the blasts, all striking in roughly the same place, were almost like red fireworks exploding in the sky.

"Almost," he agreed. "But not quite."

He patted his friend's shoulder, nodding into the Tower and to the Briefing Room. The scientist nodded and John led the way back into the Tower, hearing the door shut behind him while he walked into the Briefing Room. He was mildly startled by the sight of Camilla sat at the segmented table – split to cover the majority of the floor instead of the centre of the room – her hands on a towel on one of the tables while two balls of energy still hummed in her palms, cables tied to her skin as they obviously took power from her.

"The _Daedalus _will be back in fighting form within the next twenty-four hours," Caldwell was saying from where he sat near Elizabeth with his own crew. "But I think the next engagement's going to have the same result."

"Even if we were able to destroy these ships this instant, more would be here in a few days," Elizabeth said. "And even more a few days after that. From where I'm standing, I just don't see how we can win this."

"Well, now we know how the Ancients must have felt," Rodney commented as he made his way over to sit by Zelenka, the other scientist having already set up three laptops, one each and one presumably to watch Camilla's readings.

"Atlantis is the only way to Earth," Zelenka said as John took a seat opposite Camilla, next to Teyla, the woman shifting her own gun to give him space on the table. "As long as they know we're here, they're just going to keep coming."

John leaned back in his seat, humming as a quick plan thrummed through his mind. "As long as they know that we're here," he muttered thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked.

"Zelenka just said as long as they know that we're here, they'll keep coming," John said.

Rodney nodded. "Yes," he said. "He said that."

John nodded. "Well," he said. "What if they thought we were gone?"

"Then there'd be no reason for them to stay," Teyla said, bringing a grin to John's face.

"Exactly!"

"Exactly what?" Rodney asked.

"We disappear, Rodney," Camilla said, a smile on her face that was turned to look at the man, her glowing white eyes apparently focused on him. "If they think we're gone, then they'll leave."

"So we destroy the City, you mean?" Caldwell said.

John shook his head. "No," he said. "We just make it look like we did."

"How?" Elizabeth asked.

John watched as an idea hit Rodney, the man's finger's clicking with it. "We cloak it!" he said.

Zelenka nodded after a moment, catching on. "Yes, yes!" he said before he looked at Caldwell. "The Puddle Jumpers are equipped with cloaking technology that renders them invisible to the naked eye, and to Wraith scans." He shrugged. "If we just simply remove one of the cloak generators-"

Rodney waved the man off. "I wouldn't say simply, but yes," he said. "By interfacing a Jumper's stealth cloak with the city's shield, we should be able to render the city invisible."

Caldwell nodded. "That's all well and good," he said. "But I think if the city were to suddenly disappear, they might put one and one together."

Camilla chuckled at that. "Then we give them two and two and watch as they put five together," she said, nodding to John, something that he returned.

"We fake a self-destruct," he said. "Have the _Daedalus _beam a nuke right above the city's shield and then detonate it. While their sensors are blinded, we cloak the city, when the smoke clears…"

"Nothing but ocean," Elizabeth finished.

"What about hard radiation?" Caldwell asked.

"I should be able to calculate with reasonable accuracy how long to wait until we switch over to the cloak," Rodney answered.

"But what about the displacement issue?" Zelenka asked the Canadian.

"Well, it's coplanar emulation," the scientist responded. "That's the easy part!"

"Okay," Zelenka said. "What about the hard part?"

John frowned at that. He hadn't thought anything could be theoretically or practically hard about doing his plan.

"Hard part?" he asked.

Rodney waved his hand slightly. "Uh, the cloak for all intents and purposes will replace the shield," he said. "Which means that we'll be completely unprotected once the cloak's activated."

"We'll be completely exposed?" Elizabeth asked, her tone sounding dismayed.

Rodney sighed and nodded. "Well," he said. "Yes."

"So if they're not fooled by the ruse…" Caldwell began.

John sighed. "Then they'll destroy the city," he said. "Which, I remind you, is exactly what we were gonna do anyway."

Elizabeth sighed. "What about the _Daedalus_?" she asked.

"Well, if it doesn't work, our shield should be sufficiently recharged to break through their lines and escape," Caldwell answered. "We know we can outrun them."

John nodded, his mind ticking through a plan. "Alright," he said. "Let's get as many non-essential personnel on your ship as we can. Just in case."

Teyla sighed from beside him. "They are close," she said quietly. "Close enough for me to connect to them." She smiled softly. "If I can convince them that we intend to destroy Atlantis rather than allow it to be taken, just before the explosion occurs…"

Elizabeth shook her head tiredly. "How will we know whether or not they believe you?" she asked.

"They'll stop attacking the City, Elizabeth," Camilla said. "I doubt the Wraith will want to help us in destroying the City."

John looked to Teyla, watching as Elizabeth and Caldwell joined him, the leader of the Athosians nodding in agreement. "The last thing they will want to do is help us in the destruction," she agreed.

Elizabeth sighed, nodding as she turned to look at Rodney. "How much time do you need?"

"Oh well…" Rodney began.

"… a week…" Zelenka said at the same time as Rodney said, "… a couple of hours…"

Elizabeth nodded. "I'll take the second estimate," she said. "If Camilla isn't directly tied in, the shields not relying on her to power them, take her with you. She can help with the Ancient Knowledge."

Rodney nodded even as he glared at Zelenka. "Camilla's providing close to five percent throughout the entire shield," he said. "While she's bolstering the strength of the shield, it's safe to remove her from it with no effects to the system. The ZedPM will run out a little faster without her, but it's almost negligible."

Camilla sighed and drew in a deep breath, almost laughing in happiness. "I can finally say goodbye to the IV and the blood bags!" she said, smiling softly. "Get me out of this!"

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam rolled her shoulders as she dug into her work in the Puddle Jumper, lying on her back, a torch held between her teeth as her hands worked on the Ancient crystals, taking the cables that Rodney held out to her, putting them at the crystals that both the man and the Ancient Knowledge told her to, working slowly and carefully even as she heard Zelenka muttering away in Czech, knowing that the man was expressing his own distaste at working the patch.

"A couple of hours, Rodney," she said sarcastically after she had shifted the torch to her left hand while she held her right hand out to the man. "How on Earth do you think we can manage it? A miracle perhaps, or maybe sheer dumb luck."

The man snorted as he typed away at his laptop, passing her another cable. "I don't believe in them," he said. "I believe in science and what it can do."

The woman rolled her eyes, taking the cable and carefully attaching it to the crystal her mind hummed at after only a moment's hesitation. "You're talking to a Tok'ra that does not believe in the existence of any deity, Rodney," she reminded him. "You don't have to talk to me about science." She shifted slightly. "Another cable should do it." She hissed a second later as the man pressed a cable a bit too hard into her hand. "Watch it!"

A-A-A-A-A-A

Teyla ignored the discomfort of lying in the Infirmary of Atlantis. If the plan was to succeed she had to be in under Carson Beckett's care and watch as she connected to one of the Wraith Hive's commanders. She focused intently on the message that they wished to send, keeping it in the fore of her mind, trying to keep everything else out of the way, even as she relied on the act that Dr. Weir had put on for her memories in case the Wraith saw through to the rest of her mind.

The play had been devised in such a way as to make sure that the Wraith thought the plan to deceive them had failed and they were truly going to destroy the Ancestor's City.

"Now," Carson told her, "I'm jolting ya out of this the second I feel that there's a problem."

Teyla smiled slightly at the man, nodding. "I understand," she told him.

She truly did. After so many times when the Wraith had broken through and controlled her, she would rather the man over reacted to a single gesture of her control rather than not and risk the Wraith taking her over.

The man sighed and tapped his radio earpiece. "We're all set down here," he said.

Teyla heard Dr. Weir in her own ear and she nodded. _"Good," _the leader of the people from Earth said. _"We're almost ready up here." _There were a few seconds of tense waiting. _"Stand by."_

Teyla nodded again, calming herself as she waited for the signal to send the message to the Wraith. A few minutes passed before the radio came back on.

_"Dr. Beckett?"_

The man hummed. "Teyla?" he asked.

She understood the question in the utterance of her name and nodded, taking a deep breath. "I am ready," she told him.

"We're good to go," Carson relayed.

_"Alright," _Dr. Weir agreed. _"Send our message."_

Teyla took a breath, drawing on the strength that her own people looked to her for, using that to bolster her nerves before she let the breath out and closed her eyes. She concentrated on the connection to Wraith, revisiting the feeling Dr. Heightmeyer had told her to look for all those weeks ago. The Athosian delved through the feeling and waited.

It took a few tense seconds before she saw the familiar misty interior of a Wraith ship, the guard walking around and in front of her. "I am on one of their ships," she intoned softly, feeling the eyes and minds of the Wraith turning to her and she opened her mind to the message, pushing it out. "They see me."

She groaned, gasping for air as she felt her eyes snapping open while her body threw herself into a sitting position on the bed. As she struggled to regain her breath, she was well aware that Carson Beckett stood nearby, his eyes watching her nervously.

"Teyla?" he asked.

She smiled, relieved at both the message being sent and the loss of the mental contact in her head. "The message has been delivered," she told him.

"Elizabeth!" Carson said. "It's done."

The dull thumping and thrumming that had been there for the last day died away as the Wraith stopped attacking.

_"Seems that they heard Teyla loud and clear," _Elizabeth commented.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Martouf stood with his sister in the Control Room, feeling Lantash keeping his body ready to fight and move at a moment's notice, much like he sensed that Kel'an was doing the same for his sister. He had made sure to give Caldwell a firm order about his sister, Elizabeth, Dr. McKay and Major Sheppard as well as the others in the City.

If things didn't go to plan, if the Wraith didn't accept that they were doing at face value, then the _Daedalus _had orders to evacuate the heads of the various departments. With Camilla covering the Tok'ra, the humans and the Ancient language, Martouf knew he wasn't needed and was willing to give his own place up for some the _Daedalus _could save before the City could be destroyed by the Wraith. He regretted not having enough time to give Lantash to Camilla for her to find his closest friend a new host to help, but with this plan, there had been little time to implement anything in time for the detonation of the Genii's last bomb they had been given.

**_Do not start thinking like that, Martouf, _**Lantash told him.

Martouf shook his head subtly, a habit he had picked up from his sister. _I will, Lantash, _he responded. _If there is even a remote possibility of getting you to another host to help in this conflict, then I will do it. As much as you mean to me, I would give you up before I died._

Lantash sighed and groaned in his head. **_We have already had this conversation my friend, _**he said tiredly. **_I would rather die with you than continue on knowing you are dead, much like when the Asgard rescued me from your dead body. I do not wish to live like that again. If we are to die, then I will die with you, not waiting an indeterminate time inside a chamber, waiting for a new host to take me._**

Martouf sighed, even as he heard Elizabeth asking Dr. Beckett something and shook his head, listening to what was being said, even as he registered the lack of impact-sounds against the shield around the City.

"Seems that they heard Teyla loud and clear," Elizabeth commented before she looked at Dr. McKay. "Rodney?"

The man grunted as he moved hurriedly around the Control Room. "Yeah," he answered. "I think I'm ready."

"You _think_?!" the leader of Atlantis responded.

The man paused before he nodded, glaring at her for a split second. "I am definitely ready," he told her as he moved quickly and shut down two laptops, shutting the lids in seconds.

Elizabeth nodded as she activated her radio earpiece. "_Daedalus, _launch the weapon," she ordered before she turned to one of the technicians. "Give me City-wide."

The technician moved quickly, nodding as he activated the relevant controls. Elizabeth took a deep breath.

"Attention all personnel: prepare for detonation flash," she spoke firmly, her voice echoing throughout the City.

McKay gestured at the other technicians. "Shut 'em down!" he ordered.

As the technicians moved to shut down all their laptops, Martouf moved Camilla and himself to a protected wall and wrapped his body around his sister while the others in the Control Room buried their heads in their arms, McKay the only one to be looking around as he slipped on a pair of tinted goggles, covering his eyes and appearing to protect them from the impending bomb flash.

Martouf felt Camilla bury her head in his neck and he mimicked her, hearing Lieutenant Novak's voice in his ear. _"The weapon is away," _she said.

The Tok'ra shut his eyes tight against the flash that he knew was coming. He heard the explosion, felt the City shake and waited for a sign to move. "Rodney?" Elizabeth asked.

He took that as a sign and lifted his head up from his sister's neck, looking around as he stood up slightly, Camilla pulling back from him.

"If we switch to cloak before the blast radius diminishes, we'll be incinerated," McKay snapped out as he opened a laptop. "Five seconds!"

Elizabeth nodded as the others in the Control Room started to stand up straight. "Okay," she said as soon as the time had passed. "That was definitely five seconds!"

McKay nodded. "We're cloaked," he said, moving to another laptop and opening it.

Martouf watched as his sister walked over to the man. "How can you tell?" she asked.

The scientist looked at her. "They're scanning for us!" he answered.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam leaned against the Control Room's nearest Ancient console, waiting, watching, as Rodney looked at several open and ready laptops. The man moved between them constantly, looking at the information on screen before moving on to the next one and doing the same there.

"I don't think they've detected us," he whispered.

Cam frowned at that. "Why are you whispering?" she asked him quietly.

The man looked at her and shrugged slightly. "I dunno," he said. "It seems like the right thing to do."

Cam saw Elizabeth rolling her eyes as they both stood up straight from the consoles. "Is it working or not?" the leader of the City asked.

Before the scientist could respond, Cam started violently as the Stargate began dialling out – something at the Tok'ra knew neither Rodney nor any of the other technicians had started.

"What the hell?!" Cam breathed as a Puddle Jumper lowered into the Gateroom as the Stargate connected to the other Gate that had been dialled.

It was then that John raced up into the Control Room, a Wraith Stunner slung over one shoulder as he moved quickly to stand beside Rodney. "Where's Ford?" he asked.

Rodney pointed angrily at the Gate Room. "I assume that's him in the Jumper," he snapped.

Cam heard John's frustrated growl as he ran through the Control Room, passed Elizabeth and down the stairs to race over to the Gate. Cam moved to the balcony, sensing her brother joining her, grasping her shoulder firmly with his hand as they waited.

"Can they detect that?" Elizabeth asked Rodney quickly.

"I don't know," the man responded after a tense moment.

"Shut it down!" Elizabeth ordered.

Cam shook her head. "He can't," she told the woman. "The Jumper has control and will until it has either left or shut the Gate down."

"Ford!" John ordered as he stepped into view of the pilot of the Jumper. "Stand down! This is a direct order!"

Cam watched, shocked and saddened as the Jumper just flew through the Gate that shut down seconds after he left. She watched as John quickly turned to look up at her and Rodney.

"Where the hell is he goin'?!" he shouted up.

"It won't matter is the Wraith can detect the Gate activity through the cloak!" Elizabeth snapped at him.

"There's only one way to know," Rodney put in sadly, looking towards the windows of the Tower.

They all waited. Minutes passed.

_"This is _Daedalus_," _Caldwell suddenly spoke through the comm. system. _"Our sensors indicate the Wraith fleet is breaking orbit."_

Cam moved into the Control Room quickly, Martouf releasing her shoulder as she did so. She moved to one of the laptops, looking over Rodney's shoulder as the man beat her to it.

"I can confirm that," he said. "They're headed for hyperspace." The man nodded then. "Look, I'm gonna keep the cloak up for a while just be sure… but…uh, I think they bought it."

The Tok'ra sighed in relief, moving to one of the spare seats in the Control Room before she sat down with a relieved sigh. "Finally," she muttered. "Mai'tac, finally."

Her brother chuckled at that. They had finally won something against the Wraith and Cam could easily predict that the rest of the city, while in mourning over the lost would also be celebrating their victory.

* * *

_"The candle burns not for us, but for all those whom we failed to rescue from prison, who were shot on the way to prison, who were tortured, who were kidnapped, who 'disappeared'. That's what the candle is for." Peter Benenson_

* * *

I really couldn't stay away! I've had too much time relax and I've been feeling my hands itching to get this chapter up for a few days now. This officially signifies the start of Season 2 and - for me - the start of some very interesting plot points. So, let the season begin.

Before I continue on to the next episode, please tell me what you all want to read next? Everyone's going back to Earth - see episode Intruder - and I'm willing to see what everyone thinks ought to happen.

* * *

Response to reviews/reviewers:

**Incognito: **You don't pull your punches when you ask questions do you? Hm?

I'll answer in the order that you've asked, just to try and make things easier. Jacob: in the universe where Cam never existed (otherwise known as the franchise) Jacob Carter was dying of lymphoma (cancer) in season 2 when he became a Tok'ra that cured his cancer. However, Selmak is one of the oldest Tok'ra symbiotes and by the time season 8 rolls around, Selmak's nearing the end of his/her life. In the franchise, SG-1 is dealing with the issue of the Replicators and instead of Selmak dying and leaving Jacob alive, Selmak held on and helped in the destruction of the Replicators at the cost of the control over his body.

Trying hard to not get too technical, according to various sources, the symbiotes can control whether they kill the host or not by releasing a chemical into the host's bloodstream at their own death. Selmak, before he held on to defeat the Replicators, had enough energy or strength to be able to control that, to allow Jacob to live when he died, but he expended too much energy keeping himself alive that when he eventually did die, he wasn't able to stop the chemicals from releasing into Jacob and killed him. Now, while I have a script of changes that I plan on making throughout SG-1 and Atlantis, I didn't want to change how Jacob died, giving the man some dignity while also giving Cam something to seriously think about. As right as it felt to 'save' Martouf, I can't say the same of Jacob – despite how much I adore the man! – and I wanted to stick close to the franchise on this one. I haven't changed anything of Jacob's death except for **_maybe _**when he died. It's not very clear when the Replicators were dealt with in connection to Atlantis' first season, so I've used my best guess there.

Now, onto the other part of your review/questions: I **_am _**planning on splitting into two separate stories, so yes, there will be a Point of Divergence (POD – thanks for that btw, it's very neat to think of it that way!). When I first posted Tok'ra in Atlantis in, oh, 2010, I was originally going to be sticking to one major plot arc and write short stories for everything else, but it's been three and a bit years since I started and I've matured. I've promised a pairing in this story to another reader and I plan on keeping that promise, but I also want to explore my own skills and a separate plot with another pairing that just can't happen in TiA like I want, so a POD seems applicable.

In fact, the POD will be happening within a few chapters of this one and I'm hoping that with it I'll be able to get readers of both pairings involved. I won't be reposting this story under a different name just to change what happens, I'll post an alternative to the chapter in question and that is where the alternate fic timeline will run. To say the least, I'm looking forward to the juggling acts I'll be pulling with all the different plot points that will be different between the two.

**Incognito**, I hope to hear more from you. I really enjoy reading your reviews and I look forward to seeing more. I'll note in the relevant chapter when exactly the POD happens so no one gets confused.

* * *

That's it for now people, so enjoy and I look forward to reading all your reviews!


	16. Chap 15: Intruder

Disclaimer: I think everyone gets the gist of this now. Outside of my own characters, I own no one and nothing. Admittedly, I'm planning on creating an inter dimensional portal and grabbing all those lovely, hot men from Atlantis! But that's just semantics.

* * *

**So it looks like everyone's liking where I'm going right now, which is good in itself. I'm not entirely sure how many of the devoted readers for this story have yet looked at my story list, but I currently have another story in the works called 'Stargate Origins: Camilla Carter' which is basically a look at Camilla and Kel'an's life with SG-1 around. I'm trying to make things realistic with that story arc as well as this one, so updating both may be a little off. Anyway, I wanted to upload this chapter and see what everyone thought.**

**After this chapter comes 'Runner' and while I have 90% of it written, I'd like to hear everyone's opinions on what they think should happen. I'll give everyone two weeks to get their bits in before I post the next chapter. On a side note for those who are still new to my writing, I try and get my writing up within a week of posting the last chapter, invariably it is a week to the day so since it is a Friday to me, I'll gnerally post on Friday/Saturday a week later, I;ll be delaying my usual chapter posting for 'Runner', so you have been warned.**

**Another bit I would like to remind everyone about is that the poll about pairings is still running on my profile page and I would dearly like to see what you all think. I've allowed TWO votes, I think, so people can vote there as well as in the comments for this story.**

**I don't like to swear much - if at all or unless someone has really pushed the limits of my control - so if anyone shares a similar temperament to me, there is a spot of swearing/language in this chapter. Admittedly not much, but I'd rather warn than not warn. If no one considers it really swearing, let me know and I'll change my descriptions of 'swearing' to suit. But, this story is 'T' rated for a reason.**

**Well, with all that off of my chest, here's Intruder and I hope that it lives up to everyone's expectations.**

* * *

**Chapter 15: We've Finally Returned Home… Then Why Do I Feel Like I've Intruded?**

It had taken two weeks to do a final ousting of the remaining Wraith in the City, many of whom were cut off from the Hive minds of their respective Hive Ships – a small mercy that was felt wholeheartedly by many in the City. It had also taken those two weeks for the _Daedalus _to complete the repairs sustained in battle before limping back to Earth. Now, a week and a half since the Earth-made ship had departed, Rodney had estimated that the _Daedalus _would be close enough to Earth to make various meetings possible within a few short days.

Those two weeks hadn't been enough for Cam as she had done what she could to decipher the enigma that was the Tenoids that had taken up residence in the City. Her only where the giant mechanical droids were concerned was that she had managed to get a set of schematics from Tenoid-Mech-3, something that she could use on Earth to pass the time.

With two datapads packaged carefully in one of her duffle bags, Cam held it in her left hand while across her shoulders she carried another duffle bag, this one full of her small personal belongings she wanted to take with her. Her clothes took up the majority of space, as did a couple of her pieces of uniform. Standing in the Gate Room, Rodney, Carson, Elizabeth and John were there, the female Tok'ra standing with them, their small group waiting for the Stargate to dial Earth as many of the rest of the expedition waited around the Gate Room and the various balconies available that looked over the Gate Room from outside the Briefing Room and the Control Room. Cam had already said goodbye to her brother, both of them understanding the need for Martouf to stay behind.

With his status amoung the Tok'ra still 'Shol'va', it wasn't safe for the SGC on Earth to house him. But, Cam had promised to retrieve the belongings her brother had left behind, knowing that she was going to be doing the same, a small portion of the _Daedalus' _storage rooms already having been reserved for that purpose for the expedition members that remained in the City and the ones that were going to be joining in a month or so.

Elizabeth sighed from beside Cam and looked up at the Control Room, nodding to Zelenka who stood at the small balcony, looking down at them. "Dial Earth," the leader of the City ordered.

Cam watched as the Czech nodded and disappeared from sight seconds before the Gate in front of them started to dial out. "Time to go home," the Tok'ra muttered.

Rodney snorted. "Do you really believe that?" he asked.

The woman smiled weakly. "I'm really hoping that we're not in another Mist-induced group hallucination," she answered. "I don't know how I would be able to handle that."

The Canadian sighed and nodded as the Gate connected to Earth. John chuckled as Elizabeth lifted up her IDC and quickly inputted her code.

"Ready?" the Major asked them.

The Tok'ra returned his earlier chuckle with one of her own, even as Rodney sighed and shook his head. "Let's go, shall we?" the woman asked. "We have so much to do once we set foot on Terra Firma, and in so little time as well."

When Elizabeth walked calmly toward the Gate, her own bags draped over her shoulders, Cam wordlessly followed after the woman, pausing to look over her shoulder at her brother at the bottom of the steps. The man nodded at her seconds before she turned her head and stepped through the Gate, her stride barely hitching as the Pegasus Stargate's wormhole connected to the Milky Way's Stargate.

Out of habit, the Tok'ra shuddered at the slight chill she felt, her body adjusting quickly. Just like when the Mist had given her the chance to see the SGC, she looked around the room, this time refraining from walking behind the Gate to look at the detailing there.

**_I understand, Camilla, _**Kel'an whispered in her mind. **_I do not wish to realise that this, too, is false._**

Cam sighed nodding as the Stargate shut down behind them, Carson muttering in Gaelic under his breath about travelling through unusual means. _If it is, Kel', _she muttered back, _then whoever is doing the manipulation is doing a wonderful job!_

The woman saw the familiar form of Sergeant Harriman at the Earth-made DHD in the control room and smiled politely at the man, even as she heard the blast door on her left hiss and slide open, revealing both the traditional armed guards that were constantly posted on the Gate Room of Earth and one General Landry. She didn't know the man as well as Jack did, but in the month leading up to her journey to join the Antarctic base she'd spent time with the man and her uncle, talking and getting to know the man before her assignment.

The Tok'ra smiled and nodded at the man. "Tek'ma'te, General Landry," she said politely as she pressed her left fist to her right shoulder.

The older man chuckled and nodded at her, politely returning the gesture. "It's good to see you again, Ms. Carter," he responded. "I'm sorry for it to be under such circumstances."

The Tok'ra shrugged a shoulder at the man. "I would like to get the medical exam out of the way, General," she told him. "I'm already three months late to a funeral."

A-A-A-A-A-A

John sighed as he looked around the walls of the underground facility of Stargate Command. He'd lived on military bases before and in general he was used to it. However, after a year living in Atlantis, he was more used to the spaciousness of the Ancient city over the cramped corridors of the man-made facility and it's annoyingly small rooms.

The Major had been surprised by Camilla's words when she'd spoken to General Landry, mentioning a funeral. She'd been the first to leave the human Gate Room and head to the infirmary. She had also been the first to be cleared by the head doctor – a Dr. Lam if John's memory served him – to leave the medical department and consequently the base. The Tok'ra had disappeared to her quarters from what several of the guards had relayed to him when he'd asked.

One Major Lorne, of Stargate Command Team 11, had told him the woman had last been seen heading to the surface, dressed in what the man had described as rather relaxed clothes: a long-sleeved black shirt and dark blue jeans. According to the Lieutenant, the man would have been surprised if the woman wasn't carrying a concealed weapon.

With another sigh, John climbed into the elevator and hit the button for the upper most level the elevator would go to – level 13 – before he planned on signing out and switching elevators. It took him a little longer than he wanted, but he was on the surface inside of fifteen minutes, dressed in his own casual clothes of dark jeans and dark shirt.

He froze at the sight of seeing Camilla standing on the curb just outside of the complex's opening, a light bag thrown over one shoulder as she looked out on the woods and mountains around them. The woman had obviously had more time to get ready as she'd managed to somehow braid the mass of hair that she had. Noticing that she seemed to be waiting, John shrugged his dark jacket over one shoulder.

"You need a lift Camilla?" he asked her as he stepped closer.

For the first time since John had known the woman as more than merely colleague and as a friend, she jumped violently, a hand snapping to the small of her back before she seemed to relax as she turned around to look at him. She sighed and turned her whole body to look at him.

"I'm going to the local cemetery, John," she told him. "I don't think many people want to be reminded – especially after what we've all seen this last year – of how close to death we are."

John shrugged a shoulder and pulled out his car keys, the old challenger in the base's parking lot. "Are you sure?" he asked. "I don't mind pulling up to a graveyard and waiting for you."

He saw the woman's internal struggle in her slightly distant eyes as she literally talked with Kel'an, the two of them apparently talking things over before the woman nodded slowly. "If it is not too much trouble," she said as her eyes refocused.

John shook his head and waved his free arm towards the where he had asked for the Challenger to be placed – if the base personnel had actually done what he'd asked. "Not too much trouble for a friend," he told her. "Do you need to make any pit-stops before the cemetery?"

The woman looked conflicted for a moment and John watched as her steps faltered slightly. "There's a flower shop in town," she said quietly. "I'd like to pick up something for the grave."

As they reached his car, John quickly unlocked the doors before holding the passenger's side door open for the Tok'ra. "Wherever you need to go, I'll take you," he told her. "Admittedly, you're going to have to give me directions here though. I don't live in the area."

Camilla chuckled at that, even as he shut the door and walked around to the driver's side, calmly climbing in and starting the engine. John couldn't help the small smile at the sound of the engine rumbling to life, a sound he hadn't heard in well over a year.

"I haven't lived in the area for over a year, Major," she said, her tone teasing. "With everything that can change in building development, I would be surprised if nothing had changed."

John nodded as he pulled out from the parking space and turned to the exit. "Direct away, Camilla Carter," he said. "Direct away."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam walked through the rows of gravestones calmly, clutching a small collection of spring flowers, looking sadly for her father's gravestone. While Sam had been reassigned to Area 51, her sister had left a picture of the gravestone in her quarters in the SGC. With a sigh, Cam came to a slow stop by her father's gravestone and she crouched down at the hard, treated granite.

She reached out with one hand to stroke her father's name etched in the surface of marker. She felt tears in her eyes and she didn't fight it this time as she placed the spring flowers in the small vase in front of the gravestone, fussing for a few seconds.

**_Go ahead, kid, _**Kel'an muttered in her mind sadly. **_I won't tell anyone._**

Cam sighed and nodded, tracing Jacob's name once more. "Hey dad," she said quietly. "Sorry I'm late." She smiled slightly, feeling her eyes burning with the tears she knew she was subconsciously struggling to not let fall. "I sent back a message, but I guess you never saw it." She sniffed then. "I'm so sorry about what I said dad. I never wanted us to part like that, but I guess we were both too proud for own good." She wiped at her face, feeling her hand shaking as she wiped away the tears that had started to fall. "I wish I'd said how sorry I was, Jacob, Selmak, before I left, before I lost any chance to say it." She took a breath before she stood up slowly, ignoring the pain in her body, a part of her mind relishing in it. "I'm so sorry dad." She took in another breath, feeling the tears falling down her cheeks. "I'm sorry that I never said how much I appreciated what you did for a runaway like me."

She started as she felt her friend's hand on her shoulder, patting it slightly. "This him?" he asked.

Cam nodded slowly, looking away as she wiped away the tears that continued to fall. "Yeah," she answered before she looked at the Air Force Major. "The man adopted me blindly at the age of eight; barely started at the fact that I was host to an alien; became slightly annoyed when he came across my parents and when I risked myself on Netu before he lost it when I joined the expedition." She shook her head at that, looking back at the headstone. "We both said things that I think we wished we hadn't, but I never got the opportunity to apologise for them."

John patted her shoulder again. "At least you got to see him again," he said. "Maybe not the way you wanted, but…"

Cam nodded at that, moving one hand to gently grasp his before letting go after a few moments.

"I'm done for the day," she told him quietly. "I _needed _to see him before I did anything else."

A-A-A-A-A-A

**2 WEEKS LATER**

After having two weeks to work through all the diplomatic necessities of life on military base, taking the painful steps to sort through all the things that needed to be ready for them to get back to the City, Cam was finally recuperating from all the emotions that had threatened her sanity.

It had taken her a week to contact a lawyer when her sister had called, firmly telling her that she was going to have to contact the lawyer their father had used to get the final part of his will read and done. It had also taken that week for her to understand why her father had left the house to her when it had been almost clearly transparent that she was never going to be able to make it back to Earth.

Now, the house stood relatively empty barring the bare essentials that the house needed if she was going to be staying in the building. Other than that, she had sequestered herself in the base, working with Elizabeth and Rodney and Carson in getting their various departments ready.

She'd already spent days helping Rodney getting his own department sorted, as well as Elizabeth and Cam planned after a morning of the final meetings to get her own department sorted. She already had several names to think about asking, including Daniel when the man eventually returned to the base from his short holiday away.

Wearing one of the slightly formal outfits of the Tok'ra – the Ancient Egyptians of Earth had called them kalasiris if Cam's memory of the common knowledge about the Ancient Egyptians was accurate. Like the clothes that the Ancient Egyptians had depicted on their walls, the formal dress was a long tube of tight cloth, but in true Tok'ra fashion, the previous host had had a seam opened at the side, making it more comfortable as the dress easily reached the ankles of the women. With a thin shawl wrapped around her shoulders, Cam felt the residual chill of the base held off by the surprisingly warm material.

It was the one thing she was thankful for as she sat on one side of the large table in the briefing room in the SGC, Elizabeth sitting on her right as the leader of Atlantis 'led' their side of the talks for the day, most specifically that of the military wing of the City. Caldwell and various other officials sat on the other side, dressed in suits or slightly formal military-wear while General Landry wore a leather jacket over the General's uniform for the base.

"I understand that the International Committee has approved a significant increase in personnel and resources for the Atlantis mission," he said, pouring a cup of coffee before he took his seat back at the head of the table.

Elizabeth nodded, her curled hair pulled loosely back from her face as she wore her own suit, the red of the City's legal and ambassadorial visible under the grey jacket. "Now that we have a ZPM, the City can support a much larger contingent," she said.

Camilla nodded at that. "Of the one hundred that joined us initially on our journey to Atlantis," she added, "it is estimated that the City can handle an increase of fifty percent of that number without struggling."

Caldwell nodded at them. "Of course," he said, "it's our feeling that a corresponding increase in military would also be prudent."

Elizabeth nodded in answer. "I agree," she said. "That's why I wanted Major Sheppard to come back with me, as well as Ms. Carter. In fact, I brought all my senior staff back. I think it's only fair that they participate in the selection process of the new personnel in their respective departments."

Landry nodded at that, taking a moment to sip on his coffee. "That's kind of what we wanted to talk to you about," he said, before he motioned to a file on the table. "In your report, you singled Major Sheppard out for a lot of credit."

Elizabeth nodded as both she and Cam sat back in their chairs. "That's right," the head of the City answered.

Landry nodded at that. "You were also candid enough to document several occasions on which you and the Major didn't exactly see eye to eye," he continued. "In particular, there was an incident involving an alien nano-virus in which Major Sheppard came close to directly disobeying your orders. If it had not been for both yourself and Ms. Carter overriding his orders, he would have placed the entire city in danger."

Cam sighed at that. "Major Sheppard also saved a lot of lives that day," she told the men on the other side of the table. "At risk to his own; I believe that reports from myself, Drs Zelenka and McKay as well as Dr. Weir all highlight the extreme danger he placed himself in to save the people."

Landry raised peaceful hands, backing slightly. "The Major's courage and ingenuity are not in question here," he told them. "His ability to follow the proper chain of command is."

Cam shared a look with Elizabeth. "I'm not military, General," the older woman said.

Caldwell nodded in recognition at that. "But you are the leader of the expedition," he said.

Landry nodded at that. "You see, Doctor, from our point of view, Major Sheppard's independent nature poses a bit of a problem," he said. "If he could disobey you, he may see fit to do the same to the new commander of the military contingent on Atlantis."

If Cam had not been a host, she would have felt her jaw dropping. Instead, one of her eyebrows arched as Kel'an kept her jaw firmly shut.

**_No need to show them the Satta cakes you had for breakfast, _**her friend said, relaxing her control.

Elizabeth seemed to be faring no better as she leaned in to the table. "Excuse me?" she asked. "And when did this happen?"

Landry shrugged, shaking his head slightly. "Of course, the decision hasn't been made yet," he said, "but we do have a candidate in mind."

Cam saw him looking at Caldwell, the leader of the _Daedalus _tilting his head at both her and Elizabeth. "Gentlemen," Cam said softly, "Atlantis already has a military commander."

"Had," Landry corrected her. "Colonel Marshal Sumner. When he was killed, Major Sheppard correctly assumed the position until a proper replacement could be brought in."

"Ma'am," Caldwell said, "you can't be suggesting that a mission of this importance be trusted to a Major, and one with a questionable record at that."

Cam shook her head, raising a hand to wave it airily at the man's suggestion. "It shouldn't be given to a Major," she agreed, even as she waved aside the rest of the man's suggestion.

"Major Sheppard's record before he joined my team doesn't concern me," Elizabeth said. "All I can tell you is that if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be sitting here right now. And as for his rank, if that's not good enough for you, you're just gonna have to promote him."

Landry looked at the woman. "Doctor…" he began before Elizabeth stood.

"I shouldn't have to remind you gentlemen that I continue to have the support of the President and our foreign allies," she said calmly, smiling sweetly at Landry. "You don't wanna fight me on this one."

Cam watched her leave and smiled at the men as she too stood slowly, shifting the thin shawl a little tighter around her shoulders. "I agree that leader of the military arm of Atlantis should not be of the rank 'Major'," she said politely. "Which is why, on behalf of the Tok'ra, it is my suggestion that he receive an immediate promotion to the rank that is required. If you wish to see proof that he's gotten as far as the rank of 'Lieutenant Colonel', I will happily provide files of the situations."

When she saw Landry and several of the other men begin to talk she raised a hand. "I am the ambassador to the Tok'ra on your behalf gentlemen," she said firmly. "Just as Dr. Weir has the backing of the President and our foreign allies, I too have my supporters." She tilted her head. "I believe that if you fight us that you will not win."

She turned and left the room, walking calmly in her sandals to the nearby elevator, stepping inside and hitting the button for the level of the living quarters. Cam shrugged the shawl off, folding it easily in her arms as she waited.

_How many political enemies do you think we have just made? _she asked Kel'an quietly as the elevator finally began its journey downward.

**_At least three of the men sat at the table, _**her friend answered. **_I would not be surprised if it were more._**

She leaned calmly against one metal wall of the elevator and carefully, but quickly, slipped both her sandals off, holding onto the leather material in one hand, the shawl draped over the same arm. _Nor would I Kel', _she agreed. _But, I do need to visit the Tok'ra High Council before I leave._

Her symbiote hummed in her mind, agreeing. **_We need to exchange information with them as well as confirm Martouf and Lantash's standing amoung them, _**she said. **_Until they are no longer Shol'va, it is unsafe for Earth to house them._**

Cam sighed and nodded as the elevator came to a stop at her floor and made to leave, only to bump into the man that both she and Elizabeth had spent the last portion of their meeting fighting for. Considering that they were on a military base, John had taken to wearing the green BDUs, much like Cam herself was about to change into.

"Sorry," she said as the man stepped aside, letting her off the elevator. "I really shouldn't be talking with Kel' when trying to leave an elevator."

The man chuckled at that. "You adjusting well?" he asked her.

Cam shrugged a shoulder in answer. "I'm far more used to the sounds of the sea than to the mechanical hum of the SGC," she told him, even as the doors began to close, forcing her to thrust her free arm out. "You going up?"

The Air Force Major shrugged. "I'm heading to talk to General Landry," he answered. "He just called."

Cam nodded and nodded at the elevator. "I'll see you later," she said. "Good luck, John. If the men are still there from my talk with them, then you will be in need of it." She paused as the man stepped inside the elevator. "I'm heading off-world in roughly an hour, so I may not be here if you finish late."

The man shook his head with a smile. "I'll see you when you get back," he said. "Have fun."

The woman rolled her eyes at that, withdrawing her arm. "Oh yes," she said sarcastically. "I'll have fun playing ambassador to a bunch of stuffy Kelownans knowing my luck!"

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam walked up the ramp seconds after the Stargate connected to the Kelownan Stargate. Dressed in her base uniform, the woman had realised how much she needed to look somewhat official but friendly as she tried to get a friend of hers to join her in Atlantis. Stopping at the top of the ramp in front of the Gate, she took a breath and stepped through. She walked down the small flight of steps in the Kelowna facility, startled at the armed guards pointing their weapons at her as she stopped at the top of the steps, raising her hands habitually as the Stargate shut down behind her.

"Stand down!" she heard a familiarly accented voice order the men. "She's not going to attack unless you do it first!" A few tense seconds passed. "I said stand down! That's an order!"

The Tok'ra slowly lowered her hands as she saw Jonas step out from an office nearby, the man not looking too much different to the last time she had seen him with the last problem with the Naquadria on the planet. "Jonas," she said, walking down the steps to greet the man.

The Kelownan man seemed to remember how she greeted her friends and extended his forearm to her. The Tok'ra grinned at that, firmly grasping his forearm as he returned the grip with his own, the two of them pulling each other into a hard embrace, their free arms wrapping around the other's shoulders firmly.

"Tek'ma'te, Jonas," the woman breathed.

The man laughed in her ear. "And to you Camilla, Kel'an," he said before they both reluctantly let go of each other and pulled back. "What brings you to Kelowna?"

Cam rolled her eyes at the man. "Is there somewhere private we can talk?" she asked him. "I'd rather this not be publicly known outside of the SGC."

The man frowned but nodded, turning and gesturing to the office he'd left. "Come on," he said. "We'll have enough privacy to talk in the office here."

Cam nodded and let him herd her inside, waiting until he closed the door before she relaxed in the relatively small office – it was smaller than her own on the Tau'ri base.

With a wooden desk and the typical metal filing cabinets, Cam could see how full they were, as well as how much of the extra paper covered the wooden desk in the room. "How have things been here since the last time we spoke?" she asked him.

Jonas shrugged a shoulder. "Things seemed to have settled slightly," he told her. "It's been almost a year since we last spoke."

The Tok'ra rolled her eyes at the man. "I was asking about Kianna, you dolt," she teased the Kelownan. "How are things?"

Cam watched as Jonas' expression fell slightly at the mention of the woman – host – that he'd been with the last time they'd met. "Kianna," he said quietly. "She…uh… it turns out that the Goa'uld was responsible for a lot of what happened. She left a few months ago."

The Tok'ra groaned at that; she knew how much the man had appreciated the other woman's presence and help, right up until she'd been discovered to be housing a Goa'uld. She'd hoped that the emotions the woman had had for her friend had been the host, not the symbiote, but she'd obviously been wrong.

"I'm so sorry, Jonas," she said. "I wouldn't have asked if I'd known."

The waved her concern off at that. "Don't worry," he told her. "Really." Jonas shook his head. "You didn't know. Now, why are you here?"

The woman sighed, running a hand through her hair, freshly cut the day before. "Before you returned here, we were looking for Atlantis," she began, "we found it a year ago. And… until two weeks ago, we were stuck in the City, unable to leave." She took a deep breath, tired all of a sudden. "I'm heading up a new department focusing on translating Ancient there. I need more people who speak and understand it to help me."

Jonas arched an eyebrow at her. "And you're asking me, why?" he asked.

Cam rolled her eyes at him. "You know Ancient almost as well as Daniel," she told him. "I need that and I need friends in the City." She sighed. "I'm not pushing you to say yes, Jonas. I just thought that you might appreciate a return to the stars."

She saw the interest on his face. "Where is Atlantis?" he asked.

Cam leaned a little closer to the man. "Don't tell anyone here," she said, "but it's in a completely different galaxy; Pegasus to be exact."

"How long before you head back to Earth?"

Cam chuckled and patted her jacket pocket where her GDO was nestled safely. "Whenever I want," she answered. "Preferably before the _Daedalus _leaves for Pegasus, but that leaving date isn't definite."

Then Cam watched, mildly amused as Jonas began moving around the small office. "If you give me a hand here, I'll send a letter of resignation to the Kelownan High Council," he told her before he looked at her calmly. "Too much has happened here that… that I can't change, can't correct and the High Council won't change their minds about it."

The Kelownan scientist shook his head and Cam stood up and moved to place a hand on the man's shoulder. "Where are the boxes Jonas?" she asked him gently. "I'll do what I can here and help carry everything."

A-A-A-A-A-A

After having a pair of palette movers sent through the Gate to Kelowna, Cam had helped her friend pack everything onto the two movers, stacking boxes like a game of 3D Tetris. It took a few hours before they had all of Jonas' belongings packed into either the boxes on the palette movers or into the multiple bags the two 'aliens' had managed to find and use. Unlike the first time Jonas had left his home-planet, the man was bringing his personal belongings that he couldn't depart from, various books on literature and culture amoung the many that made their way into the boxes.

Cam stepped calmly through the Gate, moving backwards as she pulled the one palette through and carefully down the ramp, pausing only when Jonas had joined her, pulling his own palette through. Turning around, Cam was aware of the three bags thrown across both of her shoulders as she saw General Landry entering the Gate Room, the woman feeling Kel'an carefully rebalancing her body.

**_Don't want to topple to one side, do we now? _**her friend teased.

"Recruiting went well then, Ms. Carter," Landry commented as he stopped in front of her.

The Tok'ra smiled politely at the man, bowing her head slightly. "Yes, sir," she answered. "General Landry, Jonas Quinn. Jonas, General Landry."

She watched as Jonas shifted his palette on the concrete floor of the Gate Room before he extended a hand for the man to shake. "Pleasure to meet you, General," he said.

Cam chuckled as Landry returned them. "I'll be helping Jonas get settled in while Dr. Lam does a workup, sir," she told the head of the SGC.

He nodded, even as Jonas began to leave. "Oh, Ms. Carter," he said. "We took both Dr. Weir's and your advice in regards to the military situation in the City, Major Sheppard will be formally promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in twenty-four hours." The General smiled at her sweetly – something that Cam could easily tell was forced. "You may want to congratulate the man."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Dr. Danielle Witcker, PhD in Anthropology and an ability to translate Ancient, stood in her apartment's small living room, her arms crossed angrily over her chest as she stared hard at the woman sitting opposite her on the low coffee table.

She was pissed as hell after a year without her friend Camilla Carter anywhere on Earth, but supposed that the girl deserved a chance to speak. The girl had called her a few days before, asking to speak face-to-face with her and Danny had been hard-pressed to turn down the offer.

She'd heard the woman's 1969 Chevelle driving up into the parking lot in front of her apartment and Danielle Witcker had readied herself for a confrontation with her friend.

"Let me get this straight," she said tersely. "You lot found Atlantis – in another galaxy – and all left without leaving a message or note saying where you'd all gone."

Camilla nodded once in answer. "I am sorry about that, Danny," she said. "As soon as we discovered the Gate co-ordinates, we were practically told to go within a week." The young woman looked at Danny, sadness clear in her eyes, as well as apology. "I had thought to contact you, but you were with your family… on holiday."

Danny waved a hand at that. "You know that I don't get along with my parents," she countered. "You could have called."

Camilla chuckled softly. "Not when you were spending time with your brother," she said. "I remember that the two of you get along much better than you do with your parents."

Danny glared at her friend and sighed. It was true; with parents that had tried to dictate her life and spending habits, Danny had changed her name, gotten a job that she loved and did a fair amount of charity work, spending what money her parents had given her as a child on that.

By no stretch was she stinking rich, but with both her family's yearly income into her account as well as her work for the SGC as both an anthropologist and translator, she was well off – well enough, the woman mused, that she could retire the very next day and not need to work for the rest of her life if she was frugal with her spending.

Focusing on the Tok'ra in front of her, Danny arched an eyebrow. "And the reason I wasn't chosen to go along first time round?" she asked, relaxing her stance slightly.

The female Tok'ra sighed. "I was not the one in charge of picking who came along," she said. "That honour was Dr. Weir's."

Danny tilted her head, ignoring the strand of red hair that fell into view. "And what's changed now?" she pressed.

Camilla smiled properly at that and Danny relaxed further. "As a senior staff member running a new department on base," she began, "I have the right to chose who I want working for my department."

Danny chuckled as she looked at her friend, the last of her anger ebbing away. "Asking for forgiveness are you?" she teased.

Camilla stood with a chuckle of her own. "We both are," she said softly. "Kel' and I haven't been able to work properly without your teasing!"

Danny laughed and moved to hug her friend like she had neglected to once she'd opened the door to let her in. "Sounds like withdrawal symptoms," she said solemnly. "I'm here now, you should be alright."

Pulling back to look at each other, the two women laughed.

A-A-A-A-A-A

**1 WEEK LATER**

John groaned at the paperwork that littered the tables in the SGC's Briefing Room. As much as he liked having been promoted not just one, but two ranks to Colonel and the resulting pay-rise, he absolutely hated the paperwork that came along with it. He'd spent the day before going through all the military files that the SGC had to offer and it was only now that he was starting to even begin to draw up a list of names of the people he wanted to take to Atlantis.

"Might I suggest Major Evan Lorne?" Camilla asked from where she sat nearby, a datapad in her hands.

The woman had taken to keeping him company as she worked on her own painful task of picking people to go to Atlantis. Apparently the woman had already gotten together three people willing to go in the first few days, all of them on the base, ready and waiting to go even as they helped her with her translations. She'd also, apparently, had enough time to herself to treat herself to a spa treatment and a haircut – something, John mused, he needed to get as well now that his hair was starting to get in his eyes a bit – and plenty more according to the resident rumour mill in the SGC.

John also realised that he didn't have the luxury to relax, not yet when he still had the military department to get sorted. "Why Major Lorne?" he asked her.

She looked up from her datapad, crossing a name off of the screen as she ran a hand through her now shoulder length hair. "Despite his unpopular behaviour a few years ago," she said, "the man has grown to actually think for himself while following orders. He's a remarkably loyal and selfless person." She tilted her head with a soft smile. "It took a little time, but we finally managed to get the idea out of his head that everyone who gives an order has the sun shining out of their arse. The man understands he'd allowed to think for himself in situations, but not to go off the reservation." She smiled slightly. "You'll be pleasantly surprised by what the man can do."

He sat back in his seat and looked at the woman. "Let me guess, you went on a mission with his team before you left for the City," he said.

The woman snorted rather indelicately. "Nothing so dramatic," she said. "SG-1 managed, on a daily basis, to get into trouble on the least dangerous of missions. If SG-1 had taken another team along, that would have guaranteed their deaths." She shook her head. "No, I spoke with him a few weeks before I went to Antarctica."

John snorted at that, shaking his head slightly. He could actually see the woman doing just that, despite her young age, to the military men in the base.

"How many more spots do you have to fill in your department?" he asked her.

The Tok'ra shrugged a shoulder. "I've got a couple of free spaces," she told him. "I'm handing those over to the other departments that need more members."

John shook his head. "Then you mind givin' me a hand here?" he asked.

Camilla tilted a head as she stood up and moved closer, looking at the table before she chuckled. "Nope," she answered. "You need to get used to the paperwork, _Colonel _Sheppard."

John groaned as the woman made to leave the room before she paused. "You know where my office is," she said. "Come find me if you desperately need my help."

A-A-A-A-A-A

**THREE WEEKS LATER**

Cam cradled a metal cup of coffee as she stood in the Commissary of the _Daedalus_, watching as the familiar streaks of hyperspace flew by the reinforced windows of the Tau'ri made space ship. Despite spending close to two weeks on the ship, Cam was still struggling to get a complete night's sleep.

It had gotten to the point that she was relying on coffee, meditation and Kel'an to keep her going for the day before trying to fall asleep again in the night. A datapad was on the table behind her and she also knew that Elizabeth was sitting in the Commissary, nursing her own cup.

"It's a shame that they don't do the Scottish pick-me-ups," Cam commented over her shoulder.

Elizabeth chuckled in response. "I doubt that the doctored coffee would affect you, Camilla," she responded. "But we could all do with some. It is a shame that Carson cannot prescribe any of some alcohol."

The Tok'ra rolled her eyes at that, looking back at the hyperspace light flying by the window. It seemed like only a few more minutes passed before she heard the sound of footsteps echoing in the hallway outside the Commissary. Cam didn't move as she took a drink from her cup, sighing after she had swallowed.

"Hey," Elizabeth called to the newcomer. "What are you doing up so late?"

"Couldn't sleep," came the response from John, followed by the steady sound of something pouring into a cup. "Must be the uh… burden of command – you know, ever since I was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel."

Cam snorted as she turned around slowly, watching as the man sat down opposite Elizabeth. "Oh come off it, John," the Tok'ra said as she moved to join them.

"It's been almost a month," Elizabeth said, smiling slightly. "When are you gonna stop trying to find a way to bring that up in every single conversation?"

The man laughed at that. "You gotta understand," he said, "there's a lot of people in the Air Force who never thought I'd make it past Captain!"

Cam shared a quick glance with Elizabeth as the woman nodded. "Well, obviously the people whose opinions matter the most, thought otherwise," the older woman said.

The promoted Colonel nodded at that, pausing to take a sip of his own coffee. "So," he said as he set it down on the metal table. "What about the two of you – what are you still doin' up?"

The Tok'ra took a quick sip of her coffee, swallowing quickly. "I think I got used to falling asleep to the sound of the ocean," Elizabeth said before John looked at Cam.

She shrugged a shoulder. "The same," she said quietly. "Although considering I spent a month or three in the Antarctic base and off planet with the Jaffa Free Nation, you'd think I'd be used to sleeping in different environments."

The man nodded at that. "Well, McKay says we're already at the edge of the Pegasus galaxy," he said. "You'll be fine once we get back to Atlantis, the both of you." They all sat back tiredly, just enjoying the companionable silence. "You know, it's funny," John said after a few minutes. "I spent the past year wondering if I'd ever see Earth again, and as soon as I got there…"

Elizabeth nodded. "I know how you feel," she said. "It was extremely convenient to be able to step through the Gate and be at Stargate Command in an instant, and now this…" She looked around the room.

"It feels extremely inconvenient," Cam finished for her, smiling slightly. "We've spent over two weeks on this ship, stuck inside it as we wait to get back to the City."

"Well," John said. "Until we find another ZPM to power the Earth Gate, that's just the way it's going to have to be."

Cam looked up at the sound of rushed footsteps coming towards the Commissary. She saw the familiar uniform of an Airman, harried at that, as he skidded to a halt just inside the entrance.

"Dr. Weir, Colonel Sheppard," the man said. "Ambassador Carter; there's been an accident."

Cups of luke-warm drinks were forgotten as the three followed the Airman out of the room.

It took only a few short minutes to follow the Airman and Cam froze at the sight that met her and Elizabeth, John stopping beside them as they looked at the dead body that lay on the floor where Carson crouched beside it.

"That's Dr. Monroe," Elizabeth said after a moment, both her and Cam swallowing for a moment. "What happened?"

Carson shook his head in answer. "I donnae know," he answered. "But he's dead."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam sighed as she plugged her datapad into a terminal in Engineering, beyond tired as she used her free hand to pinch the bridge of her nose. Her normal insomnia was acting up, something that the Tok'ra wasn't entirely sure was a good thing as she quickly typed her credentials in, ignoring Rodney tapping an impatient foot behind her, the Canadian waiting for her to finish logging in.

"Don't push me, Rodney," she muttered. "Really don't."

She looked up, arching an eyebrow as both she and Rodney heard hurried footsteps racing down the corridor before the familiar form of Jonas Quinn skidded in the entrance way, one hand reaching out to grab the metal of the doorway before he walked quickly inside.

"I heard," the Kelownan said, stopping at her side. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Rodney nodded at that, nodding towards Hermiod. "There's going to be a lot of systems to go through," Rodney told them. "The more I have here looking here, the less Lindstrom and I have to go through."

"If I may be so bold, what exactly are we looking for?" Hermiod asked.

Rodney looked at him. "Any indication that someone's been tampering with the ship's computers," he answered.

The Asgardian rolled his black eyes. "Perhaps you could be more specific," he said.

Rodney shook his head. "Not really, no," he responded.

Hermiod shook his head and Cam smiled as the Asgardian muttered under his breath, the words similar to the Nordic that Cam had learned years ago. "What was that?" Rodney asked.

Cam snorted. "Don't ask Rodney," she told him. "It's nothing."

The man looked at her curiously before he looked back at Hermiod. "Look. Just check the major systems; propulsion, navigation, life support," he said. "Delegate to these two and look for anything out of the ordinary. Lindstrom and I will check out the power distribution system and see if we can figure out what caused the power to spike."

Cam turned around, placing her datapad down as she heard another set of footsteps coming down the corridor, smiling slightly as Jonas started slightly the closer the footsteps got. "How's it coming Rodney?" John asked as he walked in.

"It's going to take a while," the Canadian answered.

Cam saw him stopped right in the doorway, his gaze firmly fixed on Hermiod and she shook her head with a fond smile as Rodney walked over, the two men quietly talking to each other before Rodney shook his head and turned his head. "Lindstrom!" he ordered.

The technician shot to his feet, the two men leaving Engineering and leaving John standing in the doorway. Cam chuckled as John looked back at Hermiod and she took pity on both the human and the Asgardian.

"John!" she called. "Are you going to just stand there or do something useful like keep me from being bored out of my shared mind?!"

The man looked over at her as she finally took a seat, Jonas moving to do the same behind her at the other console. The Colonel walked over and leaned against the back of the rounded console.

"What are you and Jonas doing?" he asked quietly.

Cam jerked her head at the Asgardian. "Taking the other systems from Hermiod and taking a look through them," she answered. "Both Jonas and I were aboard the_ Prometheus _on her maiden voyage; goodness knows the two of us worked the systems often enough in the first twenty hours to know what to look for."

The Tok'ra glanced up at the man, seeing him raising an eyebrow. "You piloted the first intergalactic ship of Earth?" he asked.

"More inter-planetary," Jonas corrected him. "The _Prometheus _didn't have the technology the _Daedalus _does now to go between galaxies. All _Prometheus _had was a very weak hyperdrive."

Cam rolled her eyes at that. "And we didn't exactly pilot it either," she told John as she opened a diagnostic window on the ship's propulsion. "SG-1 all sat back and enjoyed the ride to the Ida galaxy courtesy of the Asgard." She typed in a quick series of commands and sat back in her seat, moving to another console to open another window.

"But…" John began.

"The Asgard towed the _Prometheus_, Colonel," Jonas told him. "The Asgard needed the relatively low technology of the ship, nothing else."

John shook his head, glancing over at Hermiod before he shook his head again. "Are the Asgard meant to be naked like that?" he asked Cam quietly.

The woman rolled her eyes as the man leaned closer as she gestured for him to do so. "The Asgard are known for their cloning abilities," she told him quietly. "It would be wasteful for them to constantly clone themselves and waste clothing that means nothing to them anymore."

The Colonel shuddered slightly. "Still…" he muttered.

Cam sighed, shaking her own head before she bowed her head. _Please, Kel', _she asked. _You'll be better at explaining this than me._

Her friend chuckled in her mind as she took the control that was offered to her. **_Of course, _**she said quietly. **_I'll see what I can do._**

Kel'an raised her head after a moment and looked at the man as she settled her body slightly more comfortably that her host had left it in – comfortable to her but not to the symbiote. **"I believe what my host was trying to explain to you, Colonel," **she said as she ran the diagnostic programme and sat back slightly in her seat, **"is that if the human race cloned everyone in their race, then the degradation of the DNA would cause physical issues that clothes cannot mask. The Asgard go around 'naked' as you call it because of both that and the fact that is the social norm for them."**

John Sheppard shook his head. "It'll still take a while to wrap my mind around that," he said. "Look, I'll leave you guys here to get through everything."

Jonas nodded. "Thank you Colonel," he said.

Kel'an rolled her eyes at John as the man stood, nodded and walked off, leaving the Tok'ra to look at her diagnostic programme and read through the computer's response.

A-A-A-A-A-A

**HALF AN HOUR LATER**

Cam raced through the corridors of the _Daedalus_, ignoring the people that got in her way. Instead, she pushed off of the walls, dodging the people in her way as she raced towards a power junction room in the rear of the ship. She ignored a couple of the angrily tossed insults as she reached the room in question, skidding to a halt near Rodney, the man doubled over coughing by the shut doors, an alarm blaring in the air.

"Easy, Rodney," she told the man as she gently grasped his shoulders, quickly modulating her strength in case she was a bit too strong, feeling the man tensing slightly in her grip. "Easy. Carson should be here soon."

The man shook his head as he continued to cough. "Lindstrom," he said, pointing to the screen beside them and Cam glanced at it, feeling her heart sinking at the sight of the open blast doors, open space visible on the screen. "Something happened and…"

Cam patted his shoulder as she saw Carson and a medical team racing around one corner and down it towards them. "Hey Carson," she said. "Rodney was already coughing when I got here."

The Scottish doctor nodded and gestured at one of the medics. "Aye lass," he said. "Anything else ye can tell me?"

A-A-A-A-A-A

Rodney took deep breaths through the oxygen mask, ignoring the slight stinging in his sinuses as he did so. He felt Carson grasping his left wrist while he looked at his watch, quietly measuring his pulse rate. Caldwell stood nearby, watching while Camilla worked with a borrowed datapad in the vented and shut room that he and Lindstrom had been in.

The Canadian couldn't suppress a wince at the thought of the scientist, the man's boiled body floating out in space behind the _Daedalus_. He'd found something moments before everything had gone to hell.

"I already told you," he told Carson as he pressed the mask to his face before he pulled it off, tugging his left hand from the man's firm grip. "I'm fine."

"He's right," Carson said. "It appears tha' he didnae inhale enough toxin ta cause any permanent damage." Rodney rolled his eyes as Carson firmly gripped his right hand and moved the mask back over his nose and mouth. "Although, a few more seconds of exposure and it would have been quite a different story."

Caldwell nodded. "Thank you Dr.," he said.

The Scottish doctor nodded, walking off to walk with another of the medics, but not before Rodney felt the man pat him on the shoulder.

Caldwell waited until the man had walked off a little before he focused his attention on him. "I assume this time we can definitely rule out random malfunctions?" he asked.

Rodney lowered the mask again, looking at the Colonel. "Lindstrom found something," he told the man. "He was trying to tell me what it was when the leak happened."

"What were you looking for?" Elizabeth asked from where she stood in the entranceway into the room, turned so that she could watch both Camilla and himself.

"We were trying to trace the source of the power spike that killed Dr. Monroe," he told her.

"Who else knew what you were doing?" Caldwell asked.

"A lot of people across the ship knew that we were running diagnostics, Colonel," Camilla said.

Rodney nodded at that. "No one knew Lindstrom and I were in that particular room at that exact moment," he said. "We didn't plan it, just went through the rooms."

Sheppard hmmed behind him. "Security cameras," he said, forcing Rodney to turn and look at him. "If the person who killed Monroe was able to get into the system to erase evidence, there's no reason he couldn't do the same thing to keep tabs on the investigation."

Rodney rolled his eyes at that and lifted the mask to his face, drawing in a couple of breaths of oxygen, feeling his starved and weakened lungs relaxing slightly. "Assuming it's a 'he'," he said.

"How many personnel on board have the technical skills to do something like this?" Caldwell asked, pressing him.

Rodney turned his attention on the man. "Almost everybody," he answered. "That's what you get for assembling a team of brilliant scientists."

Elizabeth sighed from behind him. "I can't believe it would be one of our own people," she said. "Isn't it possible there's an intruder on board?"

Caldwell shook his head. "We used the life signs detector to do a headcount," he said. "We didn't get any extra signals."

"Well, a hibernating Wraith," Elizabeth said. "They can avoid detection."

Sheppard grunted in agreement. "We've seen that tactic before," he agreed. "Beam in, lay low, then look for the chance to conduct sabotage."

"That would be a good idea if the _Daedalus _hadn't undergone a complete decontamination sweep back on Earth," Camilla spoke up from inside the room with a grunt. "Damnitt man, be careful where you point that blasted welder!" The woman grunted again. "It's been two months and a decontamination sweep since we last encountered the Wraith."

Caldwell nodded. "Alright then," he said, turning to one of the officers waiting nearby. "As of this moment, I want all civilian personnel confined to their quarters."

"What?!" Elizabeth snapped out.

"Present company exempted of course," Caldwell said with a calm smile.

Rodney raised his hand slightly – a habit from the City he'd unconsciously picked up. "Uh, Colonel," he said. "With all due respect, some of those people could be extremely helpful in the investigation."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam arched an eyebrow as she looked at the computer monitors recessed above her head on the _Daedalus' _bridge, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared at the shifting coding in Wraith. She wasn't the only one from Atlantis doing the same, Rodney had called for John and Elizabeth to meet him and Colonel Caldwell on the bridge.

"A Wraith computer virus," Elizabeth commented, looking at the same series of monitors.

"I think it was downloaded in that last encounter with the Wraith," Cam said, tearing her gaze from the screens as she looked at the head of the _Daedalus._ "I seem to remember a Wraith ship trying to run a parallel course to ours during that fight."

Caldwell shook his head, glancing back up at the screens that seemed to be running a recorded loop of the virus. "Well, it's been there all this time, why are we just noticing this now?" he asked.

"Well, in all likelihood it was transmitted in a compressed format," Rodney answered. "It took a while to unfold, to spread to the point where it could adversely affect our systems." The scientist shrugged. "I think it probably happened during your return flight to Earth. Since then, it's been waiting for some kind of trigger."

"Like what?" John asked, the Air Force pilot tearing his gaze from the monitors.

"Possibly the fact that we're once again in close proximity to Wraith territory?" Rodney returned before he shook his head. "I think it was ultimately designed to take control of the navigational system."

"And fly the ship straight to them," Cam groaned.

_Well, that really sucks, _she thought quietly.

**_Doesn't it just, _**Kel'an returned. **_I think this is somehow much worse than the Replicators getting their hands on both Asgard and Earth technology._**

_It is, _Cam muttered.

"If they get their hands on the _Daedalus_, they'll not only have access to the intergalactic hyperdrive technology, but they'll have all the navigation data that'll lead them straight to Earth," Elizabeth said after a moment, the woman's mind running through everything.

"And that's not including the various mouths that the Wraith have to feed," Cam said quietly. "If the ship flies us straight to Hive, that's it for everyone on board."

Caldwell frowned at that. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Cam looked calmly at the man. "If the virus does not override every single code aboard this ship, then the Wraith will torture every single one of us for the codes," she told him. "The Wraith will happily kill us all just for the fun and for the meal we represent to them."

"Despite that morbid insight, with everything this ship has, that's all they've wanted," Rodney said with a slight shudder. "A new feeding ground."

Caldwell shook his head. "That still doesn't explain who killed Dr. Monroe and Dr. Lindstrom," he said.

Cam saw Rodney giving the man a forced smile. "That's what I'm trying to tell you," he said. "It was the virus. It's an A.I. – an artificial intelligence, it can think for itself, adapt to new situations…"

"Protect itself," John summarised.

Cam shook her head at that. "Mai'tac," she muttered. "It's like dealing with the Replicators all over again!"

Rodney nodded at that, both at her and at John. "As bad as that sounds, the Colonel's right," he said. "It knew that Lindstrom and Monroe were going to expose it, so it got rid of them."

"Can it take over the whole ship?" Elizabeth asked quietly.

Cam and Rodney shared a look, both of them shaking their heads. "Not entirely," Rodney said. "You have to remember that there are hundreds of individual computers on board. A lot of them are interconnected so we tend to think of them as one, big machine, but that's not really the case."

The Tok'ra nodded at that. "On this ship there are multiple redundancies and some systems are deliberately isolated from the rest," she said. "Life support, general power to the lights of the ship."

"So, the virus can't kill us all by venting the atmosphere?" John asked.

Rodney shook his head. "That was the good news," he said. "The bad news is that come of the more complex systems like navigation and propulsion require a certain amount of interconnectivity to function properly. In all likelihood, the virus has spread so far through those systems that to isolate it will make the ship impossible to fl." The scientist sighed. "Until we figure out how to get rid of it, we're stuck here."

Cam started seconds later, cursing under her breath as an alarm started to blare through the bridge. "Colonel Caldwell," one of the bridge's many Lieutenants called. "Sir, we just began broadcasting."

"What are you talking about?!" Caldwell asked the man as he moved through the bridge to one of the other monitors.

"It just came on by itself, sir," the Lieutenant responded.

"Shut it down!" Caldwell ordered as Cam moved to follow the man, watching as a series of codes were placed in before the Lieutenant shook his head.

"I'm locked out, sir," he said.

"It's the virus," Rodney said. "That's what I mean about adapting itself to new situations. It doesn't have enough control yet to fly us to the Wraith, so instead it's calling the Wraith to us, and right now we are sitting ducks."

Cam sighed and rubbed her face with both hands. "Why do I feel like I'm nineteen again, stuck aboard the _Prometheus_ with Replicators only seconds away?" she asked. "Why? Why? Why?" She didn't need to look at Rodney to know he was about to answer in some way that she knew would set her off. "Don't Rodney. Just don't. You do, and I promise, what my brother does to you will pale against what I will do if you say a single word."

The man stuttered before he swallowed convulsively. "I'll just get to work," he said.

"I'd do that, doctor," Caldwell agreed. "I'd like to have my ship back."

A-A-A-A-A-A

John watched Rodney work, leaning over a terminal on the bridge. The Canadian continued to surprise him, even after a year of working in the City. The man had said it would take a while to try and get the virus out of the system, but from the look of things, he was almost complete in something.

"What are you doing?" he asked Rodney.

"Theoretically we should be able to cut power to the long-range transmitter," the scientist answered. "We won't be able to send messages, but uh… neither will the virus."

John heard the subtext to the Canadian's words. "Theoretically," he said.

Rodney nodded at that. "Well, it's pretty smart," he agreed. "So far, whatever we've tried, it's been one step ahead of us." He looked up from his monitor and nodded to the bridge's Lieutenant. "Try it now."

John turned his attention to the Lieutenant and watched as he typed in a series of commands before he shook his head. "It's no good, sir," he responded. "We're still broadcasting."

Camilla sighed at that. "Well, that's just struck everything else off of the list," she said. "A shut-down is next, isn't Rodney?"

The Canadian nodded. "Full systems shut down," he agreed. "Wipe everything, reboot, load from clean back-ups."

John shared a look with Elizabeth, arching a single eyebrow at her. "Will that really work?" the woman asked.

"Absolutely," Rodney said as he worked before he paused. "I think."

Caldwell shook his head at that. "How long will it take?" he asked.

"The _Daedalus _does not have a simple on-off switch, Colonel," Camilla said. "To do what Dr. McKay is proposing, it would take the better part of an hour or two to complete the preparations."

John shook his head at that. "Every minute we wait, we increase our chances of being detected," he said. "We need to turn off the transmitter array right now."

Caldwell nodded at that, looking at him as he arched an eyebrow at him. "Do you have an idea?" he asked.

John nodded; he had a 302 in mind. "As a matter of fact, I do," he said. "But, you're not gonna like it."

Camilla snorted. "Share with the class, Colonel," she said. "I'd rather know how much General O'Neill has rubbed off on you before I trust you to save the day."

John feigned a wounded expression at that: he'd read all the files in regards to SG-1's missions and he'd found all of the ones planned by the then Colonel O'Neill to be rather ingenious. "That hurt, Carter," he told her before he looked at Colonel Caldwell. "I'll take an F-302 out to take out the transmitter, we clear the area of all personnel and lock down the area. It'll stop the array from broadcasting to the Wraith and it's a minor repair to take care of once we're back in Atlantis."

Caldwell looked at him. "You're right," he said. "I don't like it." The man sighed. "But it's our best shot at quickly taking out the array. Do it."

"Colonel," Camilla spoke up. "The F-302's require a two-pilot system."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam settled herself into the secondary seat behind the pilot, slightly uncomfortable in the full-body flight-suit and flight helmet, even as she pulled the five-point seatbelt across her body, fastening the clasps with only a moment's hesitation. She remembered what she'd done at Vis Uban after Daniel had returned to the 'mortal' plane.

_"Have you ever flown one of these before?" _John asked, the 302's internal radio system placing his voice in her ears.

Cam chuckled at that, slipping the breathing mask over her face, clipping it into place. "If you read the mission report from Vis Uban, then you'd know I have," she answered. "Back-up pilot, but I've flown."

She saw John's helmet shake as he powered the 302 up and flicked the switch to shut the canopy. _"I don't think I want to know why you were inside one when you were nineteen," _he said as Cam heard the familiar sound of the 'engine' starting up.

Cam waved a hand as she performed the usual checks at the back of the fighter. "I call it dealing with post-Ascension idiocy with Anubis," she told him. "Had to learn at some point how different the Tau'ri fighters were from the Goa'uld Death Gliders."

She saw the man shaking his head again, a chuckle echoing in her ear. _"That's right," _he muttered. _"I forgot I was talking to a Tok'ra. You lot remember practically everything."_

Cam chuckled at that. "Glad that you remember _that, _Colonel," she said. "Shall we get to work?"

In answer, the man deftly piloted the fighter out of the bay. _"You were saying?" _he asked.

_"Alright, Colonel," _Caldwell spoke in their ears. _"We've evacuated all sections in the vicinity of the array and sealed the bulkheads."_

Cam nodded at that. _"Understood," _John said.

The woman didn't hear what the head of the _Daedalus _was saying as John flew the 302 easily towards the array. _"This is going to get a bit bumpy,"_ John said. _"Talk about flying by the seat of your pants."_

The Tok'ra snorted as she looked down at her monitor, seeing the weapon's lock appearing onscreen. **_This is not as bad as some of the situations I have found myself in, _**Kel'an dismissed calmly.

Cam shook her head. _As much as I would love to learn, Kel', _she muttered. _I really need to concentrate right now._

She firmly gripped the edge of her seat as she watched as John's aim was proven, the array exploding moments after he'd fired missiles at the array before flying on.

There was a sigh of relief in Cam's ears seconds later. _"Well done," _Caldwell said. _"Colonel Sheppard, return to the ship."_

Cam smiled at that. _"With pleasure," _John responded and Cam moved to flick several switches to reprogram the fighter to go back to the ship.

"Uh, there's a problem," Cam said when nothing worked when she'd flicked the switches with one hand while the other unseated one side of her breathing mask, trying to make things easier for her. "My controls aren't responding."

She paused for a few seconds, listening to John flicking his own switches. _"Neither are mine," _he replied.

_"Say again?" _Caldwell asked.

Cam turned in her seat as much as she could, looking at the _Daedalus_ before she cursed. "The _Daedalus _is behind us, Colonel," she said. "The 302 is picking up speed."

_"I'm not in control," _John added. _"I can't seem to turn around."_

Cam swore under her breath again, turning back around in her seat. "Well, mai'tac," she muttered. "This is not how I've wanted to spend my last days on the _Daedalus_."

_"John, Camilla, this is Elizabeth," _their headsets buzzed moments later in their ears, the leader of Atlantis coming on the line. _"Rodney seems to think the virus has taken over your ship, so we're gonna try to beam the pair of you out."_

John nodded in front of Cam as the woman leaned back in her seat with an exhausted sigh. _"Acknowledged," _the man answered.

_"Stand by."_

Cam shook her head at that, chuckling softly. "This virus is damn smart," she said. "It knew that we were going to get it, but it couldn't get enough control before you took out the array."

The man in front of her snorted. _"Do I want to know how many AI's you've come across?" _he asked. _"Or should I not even be asking that?"_

Cam shook her head, laughing at that. "I just wonder if Urgo would classify himself and the droids as AI or real," she responded. "Either way, I've dealt with him and the Milky Way's Replicators. If that is not AI, then I do not know what an AI is."

She saw the helmet move again, shaking even as she heard a muted laugh. _"Your life has certainly not been boring," _he managed.

**_You have no idea, _**Kel'an muttered. **_If he knew, there would be no jokes._**

Cam twitched slightly at that. "Hush, Kel'," she muttered. "Now's really not the time!"

_"Do I want to know, Camilla?" _John asked.

**_Jokes aside, kid, we could be stuck here for a while._**

Cam twitched her head again, biting back her mental response. "Kel'an's just tired," she told him. "She's ratty."

_"A Tok'ra ratty?" _the man responded. _"What is the universe coming to?"_

_"John, Camilla, we've run into a slight snag," _Elizabeth interrupted. _"Rodney just has to make a few adjustments before we can get you all out of there."_

Cam frowned at that before she groaned. "The Asgard tracking system was in the array that we just blew, wasn't it?" she asked into the built in radio. "You're pulling us out through the radio signals."

_"You were part of the _Prometheus' _maiden voyage years ago, if I remember, Camilla," _Elizabeth commented. _"Rodney's working as quickly as he can. We're not about to give up on you just yet."_

A-A-A-A-A-A

Rodney worked as quickly as he could, reconfiguring the system as quickly as he dared with the Wraith virus working through the other systems that were tied into the beaming and tracking technology. He was working against the clock before the 302 fighter went out of range and against the clock the virus held on what it would control next.

He made it, seconds before he broke his own timing. Rodney nodded, he still had a minute before the F-302 was out of range.

"Done," he said. "We can grab them." He shrugged then. "Actually, Camilla's going to be a little problem; with Kel'an inside her the beaming is going to have to be very careful."

Elizabeth seemed to wince at that before she nodded. "Bring the Colonel out first," she ordered. "You can spend a few seconds longer on Camilla."

Rodney nodded, working the system as he heard Elizabeth talking with both pilots in the stray 302.

"I'm beaming the Colonel directly to the Bridge," he said. "I need someone to pull him out of the way as I try and get Camilla as soon as I can."

When Elizabeth and Colonel Caldwell nodded, Rodney turned back to the system, picking up on the single life-sign that he knew was Sheppard and okayed the transporter to grab him. It took several tense seconds before the man appeared, standing at the end of the Bridge in front of Caldwell.

"Are you alright?" Elizabeth asked as one of the Marines on the Bridge gently moved the Colonel out of the way.

"Yeah," Sheppard answered. "Two arms, ten fingers… I'll check the rest later." The man paused. "Where's Camilla?"

Rodney nodded at that. "Beaming her to the Bridge now," he said, okaying the second transport. "We had to make sure that you were alright and out of the way before I tried beaming Camilla and Kel'an out."

The scientist looked up, waiting the same tense seconds before Camilla appeared. Like Sheppard she was standing as the beam deposited her on the Bridge, but her helmet was off, held in one hand. As soon as the glow from the beaming technology disappeared, Rodney watched as the woman's free hand snapped to the back of her neck, her eyes wide but unfocused before she seemed to relax as her eyes focused again, this time on him.

"Remind me why we didn't sign you on to the _Prometheus, _Rodney?" the Tok'ra asked. "You're remarkably accurate with the Asgard beaming technology."

Rodney smiled at that, at her compliment, even as Caldwell turned his seat to look at him. "Alright Dr.," he said. "I've had enough of this, I'd like to have my ship back."

The scientist nodded, relaxing slightly. "Right," he said, turning back to the consoles, this time to begin the hard work of rewiring the systems for the reboot that the _Daedalus _needed.

As he started to work, Rodney was vaguely aware of Elizabeth patted his back.

"Well done," the woman said quietly before she left him to work.

Rodney smiled slightly at that, even as he focused on the work in front of him. It appeared that both Elizabeth and Camilla understood the necessity behind leaving him relatively alone.

A-A-A-A-A-A

After having worked with Colonel Carter during the year that Dr. Jackson had been Ascended, Jonas had gotten used to working with people with very 'odd' needs and attitudes. He'd also worked alongside Dr. McKay once before, three months after he had joined the SGC. That had tested both his intelligence and patience and the Kelownan found those two tested again as he did his best to learn the Wraith's written language as quickly as he could while dodging both McKay and Dr. Witcker as the two constantly tried to get a look at the screens they were looking at. Shaking his head, Jonas remembered working beside Dr. Witcker, both of them doing their best to learn Ancient and several other languages to do their best to not be useless around others at the SGC.

Jonas was vaguely aware of the fact that both Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard were at the edge of the consoles, watching everyone work. He was also aware of Camilla rushing in then.

"Move!" McKay ordered one of the technicians behind him. "Yes." He heard the man moving before cursing. "Do you mind?!"

Knowing when to move and when to stay, Jonas slipped away from his console to stand on the other side beside Camilla, the woman standing next to the Colonel and Dr. Weir. He was also aware of Dr. Witcker moving to join them, shaking her head as she muttered under her breath.

"This is what I do when I have problems with my laptop," the man was saying quietly.

The Tok'ra beside Jonas chuckled at that. "This is much more complex than that, John," she said.

The woman had apparently gotten rid of the flight-suit's jacket, revealing the black long-sleeved shirt underneath that was tucked loosely into to the belt of the dark green trousers of the flight-suit. It also revealed, to him, the edges of tattoos that he knew the woman had gotten while on Earth, the dark ink barely standing out at the bunched edge of her right sleeve. Jonas also knew that there was one more under the woman's shirt, having helped Camilla in making the decision on what she wanted.

"I'm just saying that if we're taking a page from the John Sheppard Book of Computer Repair, we're really desperate," Colonel Sheppard protested.

Jonas shook his head at that, smiling as he gently nudged Camilla's shoulder next to him. "I believe it sounds more like General O'Neill," he said when the woman had looked at him.

Dr. Witcker chuckled at that, shaking her head at his comment. "Colonel O'Neill always did threaten to use his handgun on his computer when I was within hearing range," she said. "Teal'c wasn't much better."

Camilla gave her own chuckle, a smile splitting her face. "The number of times I found that Jaffa threatening Tau'ri machines just makes me smile," she said.

Jonas nodded, remembering the few times that he had seen the Jaffa working the machines. While it had been amusing, dealing with the former First Prime in the aftermath of the angry work had never been one of Jonas' favoured pastimes and he'd made the mistake only once before learning to keep out of the Jaffa's warpath.

"Please don't remind me," he told the two women quietly. "More often than I care to remember, the Jaffa nearly killed me!"

Dr. McKay seemed to nod slightly at something he was reading on one of the screens in front of him as he tapped the ear piece in his left ear. "Alright, Colonel," he said. "We're ready."

_"Thank you," _Colonel Caldwell spoke in Jonas' ear through the ship's common channel.

It took a moment before they heard the sound of the ship's internal speakers activating. **_"All personnel, this is Colonel Caldwell. Prepare for a full system shutdown."_**

A few more seconds passed before the speakers shut off. _"Alright doctor, go ahead," _Caldwell ordered.

Dr. McKay nodded and Jonas became aware of Camilla stepping back slightly from the console and from him. As Dr. McKay gestured to Hermiod and the ship descended into a sudden darkness, the Kelownan quickly became aware of a bright, white light coming from Camilla, the woman holding her hands out.

For the first time in his memory, Jonas was lost for words as he saw the ball of energy hovering between Camilla's outstretched hands, the energy formed into a sphere that seemed to arch energy out to her hands, seemingly caressing her skin before she pulled her hands apart and moved back towards the console.

"Thanks, Camilla," Dr. McKay said as he peered at one of the screens, looking at the information that quickly scrolled across it. "Can you hold it for another minute?"

The woman grunted as she seemed to focus intently on the energy in her palms. "It'll be a challenge, Rodney, but don't ask for more than that," came her response through gritted teeth.

Jonas looked back at his friend, seeing that she'd closed her eyes, holding them shut firmly. He also heard a low whistle of appreciation from Dr. Witcker.

"Well that's bloody impressive," the woman muttered. "Trumps me…"

"You know Carson's not going to be happy about this," Colonel Sheppard commented.

Camilla grunted again. "Well, he can get in line," she muttered through gritted teeth. "Kel' is already tearing me a new one… right when I need to be focused on this!"

Jonas nodded and kept silent until he saw the lights come on, "Let go, Camilla," he told his friend.

He watched as she pulled her hands back, the energy faded quickly as the Tok'ra held her surprisingly bloody hands close to her body. "Ow," she muttered. "Kel' really doesn't like me doing that."

"When does she?" Dr. Witcker put in calmly. "Last I knew, going to sleep too late had her grumbling."

Camilla rolled her eyes at that, holding her hands still against her body as she drew in deep breaths.

_"Engine Room, what's our status?" _Colonel Caldwell asked.

Dr. McKay seemed to nod as he looked at two other monitors before relaxing. "All systems are functioning properly," he reported calmly. "No sign of the virus. Looks like it worked Colonel."

Hermiod hummed from his post by the Asgardian technology. "May I suggest we vacate this system?" he asked. "Our current position may well have been compromised."

_"Can you give me Hyperdrive?" _the Colonel asked.

"That will take longer to get back online," the Asgardian responded.

"I can get you sub-light," Dr. McKay told them.

Jonas watched as Camilla, still cradling her arms to her chest, moved around the console to look at the screens seconds before Jonas felt the sub-light engines starting up. Jonas braced himself as he felt the _Daedalus _gaining speed before it stopped accelerating and travelled at a constant speed.

It took only a few moments before Jonas winced as an alarm sounded throughout the ship. "Damn it!" Dr. McKay muttered as he moved between consoles, Camilla only seconds behind him, her bloodied hands touching the metal as she looked at the same information.

_"Engine Room, what's happening?" _Colonel Caldwell asked.

Camilla groaned as she looked at one of the screens. "It's the virus, Colonel," she said. "It's back."

"And now it has full control of sub-light navigation," Dr. McKay added.

"You said all systems were clear," Colonel Sheppard said tersely.

"They were," Dr. McKay ground out. "When we did the reboot there was no sign of the virus."

"This should not be happening," Camilla added. "The virus should have been removed."

_"Sir, we have another problem," _one of the bridge's pilots put in. _"It's our new heading; we're on a collision course with the nearest star."_

A-A-A-A-A-A

With her hands crudely bandaged, Cam was stood near the Asgard controls, Rodney standing beside the Asgard controlling the controls. With her hands tucked under her arms, it took a little of the pain away, even as she felt Kel'an numbing more.

**_I told you you shouldn't have done that, _**her symbiote muttered. **_You're hands are going to take hours – if not days – to completely recover._**

She rolled her eyes at that with a sigh. _I know, _she responded. _But Rodney and the other technicians need the light more than I need intact palms._

**_It would be nice to have intact palms while we try and deal with the Wraith virus, _**Kel'an retorted.

"The virus returned almost immediately after we restarted the system," Hermiod spoke as he looked up from his controls, Rodney clicking his fingers as something appeared to strike his mind.

"At the risk of repeating myself, I thought you said we wiped it out," John said.

"We did, John," she said. "We obviously missed something in the reboot."

"And now it's going to crash us into a sun," Elizabeth said.

Hermiod shook his head with a contemplative hum. "Not exactly," he said. "A more precise calculation of our heading shows that we will not collide with the star, but rather make a close approach, near its corona-sphere. The ship will survive, but the radiation will kill everyone on board."

"Even Kel'an?" John asked.

Cam hummed in answer, nodding as well. "Sadly, yes," she answered. "While Kel'an can heal the damage to my body and hers, the radiation dose has to be restricted to fairly low levels or the radiation will kill us."

Jonas nodded at that. "It is why you stayed away from Dr. Jackson at the beginning of his treatment for radiation poisoning," he spoke up. "Dr. Jackson was infected with a dose I was told was 11, full body."

Cam nodded sadly at the memory, even as she saw John looking at her moment. "I had to wait until Kel' had built up enough of a resistance to the radiation as well as for the radiation Dr. Jackson was giving off was at acceptable levels."

"Why kill everyone on the ship if they already have full navigational control?" Elizabeth asked.

"The virus has access to our database," Rodney answered. "It knows our tactics, our tendencies."

"They know we'd destroy the ship before we'd allow it to fall into Wraith hands," John finished for him.

Rodney seemed to pause again. "Wait a minute," he said. "There was a situation similar to this back at Stargate Command. I remember reading the report; an alien entity took control of the base computer, so they did a systems shutdown to destroy it. It survived by uploading itself onto a MALP."

Cam remembered that mission report. "It nearly killed my sister while it was at it, Rodney," she reminded him. "The entity uploaded itself into Sam, uploaded them both into the wires running through the base, leaving my sister's body in a vegetative state. We do not have any of the MALPs for this virus to upload itself onto."

"No, but we've got a bay full of F-302s," Rodney told her. "We already know the virus can upload itself onto the ship's navigational computer, but it could have used any one of those ships as a hiding place while we wiped the _Daedalus' _systems clean. It's the only possible explanation."

"So?" Elizabeth asked.

"So, we physically pull the memory storage modules from the 302s," Rodney told them. "We do another shutdown; that should do the trick."

Cam looked at John, seeing the man nod as he looked to Elizabeth. "Contact the Bridge, tell Caldwell we're on our way to the Bay now."

She watched as both Rodney and John raced from the Engine Room. **_They moved fast, _**Kel'an commented.

Cam shook her head at that. _Wouldn't you if positions were reversed? _she asked her symbiote. _I actually seem to remember us doing the same thing when the entity had Sam._

Her symbiote sighed in her mind tiredly. **_I know, I remember, _**she said. **_Your pain was like my own, Camilla._**

Cam took a breath and focused on the screens in front of her. "Let's just get to work shall we?" she asked everyone in the room as a whole.

The technicians that had come to a stop watching the entire meeting between the high ranking members of the Atlantis immediately turned their attention back to their work, even as Cam sat at one of the small consoles and began the process of reprogramming the reboot program, well aware of Jonas appearing beside her, joining her in the reprogramming.

A-A-A-A-A-A

John moved quickly through the corridors of the _Daedalus_, well aware that the Wraith virus could be watching him and Rodney going to the fighter bay. He was also well aware of the fact that the virus could have watched and heard the new plan.

He was proven right as soon as he neared the bulkhead door only a few short corridors from the bay. The doors snapped defiantly shut in front of them and he cursed under his breath, watching as Rodney pushed at one button, ordering the doors open before he shook his head, throwing his hands up.

"It's not working," the Canadian muttered.

John nodded, already turning around. "Let's try another way," he said.

As soon as they neared another bulkhead, John bit back a groan as the doors there also snapped shut. "It's the virus," Rodney muttered. "It must know what we're doing."

John looked at him, suddenly unsure of how the virus could have possibly gotten control of the doors. "How's that possible?" he asked the scientist.

"It's thinking ahead," he answered. "Anticipating our moves, like in a chess match."

John ground his teeth for a moment, stifling his anger. "Well, I hope you're good at chess," he retorted.

Rodney shrugged a shoulder at him, a wince on his face. "I don't get to play much," he answered. "It's tough finding challenging opponents."

John sighed, rolling his eyes as he tapped his earpiece. "Bridge, this is Sheppard," he said as calmly as he could. "Are there any open paths to the 302 bay?"

_"That's a negative, Colonel," _Caldwell answered. _"Looks like the entire section's been sealed off; we've tried to override it but we're not having any luck."_

John nodded his head at that, sighing. "You're going to have to beam us in," he said.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa!" Rodney stuttered out. "Wait a minute; the Asgard beam wasn't designed to beam from one point to another point inside a ship. We could end up re-materialised half inside a wall."

_"If there's no other way, Rodney, then that's the risk you're going to have to take," _Camilla spoke up inside their ears.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam moved to help Hermiod, trying her best not to get in the way as she helped reprogram the beaming technology.

_"Colonel, we're ready," _John spoke in her ear.

Cam saw Hermiod head shake at that. "There are adjustments that need to be made before we can continue," he said.

Jonas nodded from the consoles and quickly relayed the information before Cam nodded as the reprogramming was completed. "We're ready," she told the Kelownan.

Hermiod moved quickly, beaming the two men from their position into the 302 fighter bay. She watched the ship's admittedly crude lifesigns detector and she watched as John and Rodney's lifesigns disappeared for a few seconds before she saw them appear at the furthest end in the 302 bay, away from the bay doors at the very front.

"Well, that worked," she said with a grin. "Now all they've got to do is get those hard drives disconnected."

When alarms started blaring seconds later, Cam felt her heart sink and her knees shake as she read on the main screen in front of her that the bay doors were opening.

**_Oh come on!_** Kel'an growled in her mind. **_Can't you let us get the upper hand for one lousy minute!?_**

She felt Kel'an take control of her body as the alarms continued. _"Bridge to Engine Room, beam them out now!" _Caldwell ordered.

Cam heard Hermiod muttering under his breath, the words barely audible to her hearing as she saw him working quickly, shifting the Asgardian control stones around before he nodded.

"Colonel Sheppard, Dr. McKay," he said. "Can you hear me?"

Cam quickly gestured to Jonas and Danny to shift the comm. system response to the speakers instead of the ear pieces that the Tau'ri on the ship were wearing – something that the Tok'ra knew the Asgardians could not.

**_"Yeah, we're reading you," _**John responded.

Hermiod nodded, even as Cam saw Elizabeth moving closer, resting her hands on the edge of the Asgard control panel. "I have raised the fighter bay shield in order to prevent the atmosphere from escaping," the Asgard told the two men calmly. "However, the virus has invaded the system and it is only a matter of time before it gains control. Therefore, I suggest you complete your task as quickly as possible."

A-A-A-A-A-A

_"I have raised the fighter bay shield in order to prevent the atmosphere from escaping," _Hermiod spoke in John's ear and he relaxed at that, seeing the blue glow at the open end of the fighter bay. _"However, the virus has invaded the system and it is only a matter of time before it gains control."_

John shared a look with Rodney, seeing the horror reflected on the other man's face and without saying a word, the two of them split directions in the bay, John racing up the first and slipping into the front pilots seat, taking the torch that Rodney tossed him moments before he bent over and searched for the drive before pulling the cabling out.

_"Therefore, I suggest you complete your task as quickly as possible," _Hermiod continued.

John climbed out of the first ship, raced down the short steps beside it and raced to the next one, repeating the steps there before he moved onto his third, aware of a gentle thump that told him Rodney had passed the fighter he was on.

As John moved onto his fourth, pulling the drive out, he heard a buzz in his left ear. _"Colonel Sheppard, how's it coming?" _Caldwell asked him tersely.

Speaking around the torch he had gripped in his teeth as he used his hands to pull himself up and out of the 302, he grunted, "We're getting there."

Deciding that the stairs were taking too long, he slid down them and raced to the last one, gesturing Rodney up as he seemed to understand that their time was nearly up with the last of the 302s to work on.

"Get in!" he ordered the scientist as he raced up the stairs.

He watched as Rodney slid in and followed after him, sliding into the front as he realised that Rodney had taken the back. Slamming the controls for the canopy to shut, he leaned over and removed the last hard drive, sighing in relief even as he saw the shield falling at the end of the bay.

_"Colonel Sheppard come in!" _Caldwell ordered as John leaned back in his seat and evened out his panicked breathing as the canopy shut, re-pressurising the air to normal – and John vaguely understood that the bay had been decompressing. _"Colonel Sheppard, do you read me?... Colonel Sheppard, do you read?"_

John heaved in a deep breath and nodded. "This is Sheppard," he answered. "We're okay. We managed to get into the last F-302 before we lost atmosphere. Any chance you can beam us out?"

_"Sorry, John," _Elizabeth answered. _"We lost the transport beam. You're gonna have to sit still for a while."_

Rodney hummed behind him. "We pulled all the memory units," he spoke up calmly. "Another shut down should work."

_"Understood Rodney," _Camilla spoke up. _"We'll get right on that."_

John sighed and tried to relax in his seat, trying at the same time to ignore Rodney's fast breathing. "You know, I've never actually been inside one of these before today," the scientist said. "It's a little… uh… cramped… huh?"

John rolled his eyes at that. "Just relax, Rodney," he told him. "We're safe… for the moment."

He heard the scientist grunt in agreement. "Right," he said. "Quick question, though, just out of curiosity; how much… uh… like… air do these things carry?"

"Lots," John responded after a moment's thought.

"Uh… I'm just saying because if this doesn't work and we have to come up with another plan," the Canadian began, "who knows how long we could get stuck in her and, and, so it-it-it would…"

John nodded, grunting as he interrupted, "You know what Rodney? You're exactly right." He sat up straighter in his seat. "It's a limited supply, so why don't we conserve it by you not talking." Already knowing how the other man would react, he lifted a single finger. "At all," he added firmly.

Silence reigned and John sighed in relief, turning his attention to the controls of the 302. Several minutes passed before he heard his ear piece buzz.

_"All hands, this is Colonel Caldwell," _the Colonel spoke through both his ear and through the speakers throughout the ship. _"We're going to give this another shot. We're initiating total systems shut down now."_

John looked up as the bay suddenly went dark, the lights shutting down. He didn't have long to wait as moments later the lights came back on.

"This is Sheppard," John said after a few more moments. "What just happened?"

_"Standby," _Colonel Caldwell answered. _"We're trying to figure that out."_

Seconds later John heard someone muttering and cursing in the background and from the sound of things it was a mixture of Ancient, English and Goa'uld. The pilot could only smirk as he recognised Camilla's choice words.

_"It didn't work," _Caldwell told him. _"We're still on course for the corona-sphere."_

John shook his head, closing his eyes for a moment. "This thing is like a damned cockroach!" he muttered. "You just can't kill it."

"This should have worked," Rodney muttered behind him. "We've disabled every navigational computer in this bay. There's nowhere else on this ship the virus could be."

John had an epiphany at the man's words, opening his eyes."You're right," he said as he reached for the seatbelts, slipping them on. "There's nowhere on the ship for it to hide – but we didn't get every computer."

Rodney was silent for a moment. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"We missed one," John told him firmly, silently wondering if there was a way to describe his idea in words of less than one syllable.

He could practically hear the moment that Rodney caught up as he began to power up the glider. "What-what are you doing?!" he asked.

"It's the last F-302, Rodney," he said. "The one we left behind. It's tracking us."

"Yeah," Rodney agreed. "That makes sense, but we can't go after it. We have no computer-assisted navigation."

John grinned at that. "We don't need a navigational computer to fly this thing," he told the scientist. "Besides we're not going far."

A-A-A-A-A-A

_"Engine Room, this is Sheppard," _John spoke up, surprising Cam as she jumped at the sudden burst of noise in her ear. _"Prepare to initiate another shutdown on my command."_

"What the hell are you doing, John?" she asked as she felt Kel'an steadily slowing her heart down.

"Someone's a little jumpy," Danny commented and Cam rolled her eyes as she strained her hearing.

_"Getting rid of the last place the virus can hide," _John answered.

The Tok'ra shook her head. "It's in the other 302, isn't it?" she asked the man.

_"How'd you guess?" _the man asked.

The woman shook her head as she fought against the sudden roll of exhaustion that moved through her. "A pure guess," she muttered. "All the other drives are pulled, but for that one."

_"You better make this quick, Sheppard," _Caldwell said. _"Radiation levels are beginning to rise in the outer hull."_

_"Understood," _John replied.

A-A-A-A-A-A

As John sent the F-302 out through the bay doors, he suddenly wished that he was piloting a Jumper, wanting the psychic connection that the Ancient technology afforded him. As soon as the end of the glider had cleared the bay's flight ramp, he pulled back on the controls, looping the 302 over the top of the _Daedalus_, taking a few seconds to enjoy the sudden Gs and Rodney's groans behind him before he righted the glider.

Almost as soon as he'd cleared the Bridge of the _Daedalus_, John winced as one alarm went off, the screen just in front of him giving him a visual of the glider behind them.

"What is that beeping?" Rodney asked.

"Somebody just locked onto us," he answered. "Hold on."

Going with his gut, he firmly took the controls and forced his 302 into a series of rolls, aware from the monitors that the virus was attempting the same to keep up with him. He pulled spins and barrel rolls, mixing them up as he tried to shake the lock off.

John vaguely heard Rodney groaning behind him. "What happened to the inertial dampeners?" the man asked.

"At these speeds, you're going to feel the tight turns even with the dampeners," he answered.

"Now he tells me!" Rodney responded with another groan.

John just gritted his teeth against the Gs, years of practice easily having him compensating as he pulled more elaborate moves, trying to get the virus off of his tail. As soon as the alarms blared louder, John nodded.

"Alright," he said. "We're just going to tap on the brakes here."

Even with the warning as he pulled the lever back, John was surprised by the amount of momentum he had as he slid forwards in his seat despite the harness. His 302 decelerated rapidly as the virus just shot forwards, continuing on. As he shot after the virus, John kept an eye on it.

"He's making a break from the corona-sphere," he muttered.

"Any point in mentioning that we have even less protection in this ship than we did on the _Daedalus_?" Rodney asked.

Even though the information surprised and made him think, John shook his head slightly. "Not really," he answered.

Rodney groaned behind him. "I didn't think so."

As they quickly got closer and closer to the star, John suddenly wished that he'd pulled his jacket off as the cockpit steadily got hotter and hotter.

"Is it just me, or is it getting hotter in here?" Rodney asked, even as John kept half an eye on the virus, the star's brilliant light almost blinding him, making his skin feel like it was burning.

"Hold on," he warned Rodney. "I've almost got him."

Months and years on the frontline had John easily blocking out everything that could possibly distract him. He was vaguely aware of Rodney muttering behind him about fair skin and other things. Unless the Canadian said something truly worrying, John kept an eye on his control screen.

"Just a few more seconds," he muttered.

The screen went dark before it came back and John grinned at the target lock on the virus. He fired one of the missiles on his 302 and watched it launch towards the other glider. He chuckled as he saw it explode, destroying everything.

He turned the glider back with a sigh, heading slowly back to the _Daedalus_. He waited until he was a little further away from the star before he opened a radio channel to the ship.

"_Daedalus_, this is Sheppard," he spoke calmly. "Target is destroyed. I repeat, the target is destroyed." He sighed. "If you try one more shut down, I think it just might work."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam nursed a cup of coffee an hour later, finally relaxing in the Mess Hall on the _Daedalus, _leaning back in her seat as she looked at the hyperspace window at the window in front of her, the glass most certainly reinforced.

_Think you can keep me going until we get back to the City?_ she asked Kel'an.

Her symbiote chuckled in answer. **_I can do it, Cam, _**she answered. **_But you will be sleeping for a midnight shift at the very least to make up what we both need._**

Cam shrugged a shoulder calmly. _I can deal with that, _she told her friend. _I don't feel comfortable sleeping in a ship where I can't hear the sound of the sea waves. And I certainly can't sleep after what we've just been through!_

**_Neither do I want to try, _**Kel'an confided. **_I can keep you going until we get back to Atlantis._**

Cam looked up at the sound of footsteps on the metal floor of the corridor leading to the Mess Hall and she smiled slightly at the sight of both John and Rodney walking in to the empty room. She valiantly tried hard to smother her giggles into coughs at the already red skin the men were showing, the skin barely starting to peel.

She knew when John spared her a glare that she hadn't been successful and she chuckled as Rodney joined in while the two of them grabbed large cups of coffee.

"The two of you forget your sunscreen?" she teased as she smothered her chuckles.

John sat opposite her while Rodney took a seat beside her. "Very funny," Rodney muttered sarcastically. "I'd like to see how you would look like after Sheppard pulled a stunt like that."

Cam smiled at that. "My skin would be fine," she told them smugly. "But, since I remember the pain of peeling, burning skin, I'll go grab my healing device and see about treating you before Carson gets his hands on you."

She laughed as Rodney grinned like a maniac at that. "Oh thank goodness!" he exclaimed. "Thank you!"

The Tok'ra shrugged. "You two are friends," she told them. "There's nothing I wouldn't do for you."

She made to stand and Cam felt her shirt move slightly along her arms and it was then that she noticed both men's gazes locked on her right forearm. They both were staring at the beginnings of the tattoo that she knew wrapped up and around her arm, leading up to her shoulder and finally her back.

"Since when did you have tattoos?" Rodney asked her. "You didn't have those when I was hooking you into the power grid."

Cam chuckled at the two men, carefully lifting the sleeves up past her elbow and as high as the stitched hem would allow, revealing the tattoo sleeve of part of her tattoo, seeing their gazes tracking the thin arms that wrapped around her arm and under the sleeve.

"I go this one and another two when we were on Earth," she answered, shrugging again as she put her arm on the table, allowing the two men to have a look at the dark ink that stained her skin. "I needed a physical reminder of what I've lived through the last few years, and these seemed to be the best."

"Another?" John and Rodney asked at the same time.

The Tok'ra chuckled as she slipped the sleeve back down, relaxing her body slightly as she stood up from her seat. "Not today, boys," she told them. "A girl needs to have her secrets."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Arriving in Atlantis after more than two months away from the place that Cam had quickly come to view as home, she moved quickly through the crowds of people from the new crew, slipping between the bodies, letting Jonas and Danny talk with the others as she followed after Elizabeth and the rest of the command crew up the stairs and into the Control Room.

"Dr. Weir," Teyla called out in greeting. "Dr. McKay, Dr. Beckett, welcome back!" She turned to Cam and the Tok'ra let the woman draw her into a one armed hug. "Camilla, Kel'an, it is good to see you." Cam stepped back with a smile, watching as Teyla turned her attention to John, a smile on her face. "And **_Lieutenant Colonel _**Sheppard! congratulations."

The Tok'ra saw the man's smile as he nodded. "Thank you," he replied. "Anything happen while we were gone?"

Teyla shook her head in answer. "There has been no sign of the Wraith," she answered. "It would appear that they continue to believe that Atlantis has been destroyed, but I understand that your trip was not so happily uneventful."

Elizabeth sighed, shaking her head. "No, not exactly," she agreed.

John sighed as he looked back at Teyla. "Any word from your offworld contacts?" he asked.

"We have received several intelligence reports," she answered. "However, as of yet there is no news of Lieutenant Ford."

Cam nodded at that. "If it's not too much trouble or a problem, Teyla, I'd like to look at those," she said.

John hummed. "Me as well," he agreed. "If you don't mind."

The Athosian smiled. "I thought you might," she said. "I have prepared a copy for you, John, and sent one to you, Camilla."

Cam smiled in return. "I'll get right on it then," she said as John took the proffered datapad.

"Thank you," John told Teyla before he started walking off, a parting "Ladies" following him.

Cam shook her head at that. "I'll head off myself," she said. "Thank you, Teyla."

The leader of the Athosians smiled back at her. "I hope to see you soon," she said. "You deserve some time to settle in first before working."

Cam rolled her eyes at the Athosian, chuckling. "I should be so lucky," she responded. "I've a department of translators to get up to scratch and I have only a few short weeks to get them ready." She shook her head, allowing herself another chuckle. "The sooner I start working, the sooner I can ask for some time off.

A-A-A-A-A-A

**ONE WEEK LATER**

Aiden hissed as the Wraith enzyme flew through his veins, dispersing the headache between his eyes easily. Since his departure from Atlantis, his uniform had survived his numerous attempts on the Wraith in remarkably good condition.

Tilting his head, Aiden looked around himself, taking in the signs he needed to hunt for another Wraith. Taking the enzyme from the sacks of the Wraith he came across lasted him only so long and with the months that had passed, he had depleted the stock he'd taken from Beckett and he had resorted to killing Wraith and harvesting them.

If he wasn't desperate to keep himself going, one Wraith's enzyme sac could last him a week or more, but with the headaches that seemed to come every few hours, he had upped his need, his intake.

Hearing a noise, Aiden frowned as he saw single Wraith walking to the Gate on the other side of the clearing and he smiled.

_Easy pickings, _he thought.

He followed the Wraith as silently as he could, his gaze tracking to the address he put into the DHD before the Wraith stepped through. Taking a breath and waiting a few seconds, Aiden took a breath and quickly punched in the address. Stepping through as soon as the Gate had settled down, he got ready to have a little fun.

* * *

_"Even friends need private spaces, if only within the depths of their own souls, where no one else is allowed to intrude." Mary Balogh, Simply Magic_

* * *

That's it for now people, so enjoy and I look forward to reading all your reviews about this chapter and what you might like to see in the next! There have been no guest reviews since I posted chapter 14, so keep an eye open for the spot to open up again.


	17. Chap 16: Runner

Disclaimer: I think everyone gets the gist of this now. Outside of my own characters, I own no one and nothing. Admittedly, I'm planning on creating a portal and grabbing John Sheppard and Ronon Dex. Two of the hottest men to ever grace the TV screen!

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**Thanks to DarkMoon010 for giving me, unconsciously I think, the courage to post this chapter. Darkmoon010 had the idea of having Camilla stay with Ronon instead of Teyla in this chapter. For the last few years, this has always been my view of what should happen, but I've never really been sure of how that would be received until I read Darkmoon's review. I'd hoped when I posted this chapter two week ago, that I would get more plot ideas for Runner, but I guess not.**

**Ah well, I'll have more opportunities for you readers to help me. I already have a couple of plot points that I would like to run past everyone when I get to them. *_shrugs shoulders*_ Anyway, I've had this written, mostly, for a little while now. I've changed things over the course of a few weeks and I hope that you all like it. Let me know you opinion people! I love hearing them!**

**There is still a poll going on my page about pairings, so please, go ahead and vote! I'd love to see what you all think.**

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**Chapter 16: You've Been Running From The Past For A While Now. You Can Stop And Rest, Runner.**

Sitting inside the Tenoid-Mech, Cam worked diligently, doing her best to ignore the bright lights pointing at her from outside the large mech. It had taken weeks of looking over the schematics and finally the mech itself before she, Jonas and Danny had found a way inside.

Sitting in a surprisingly comfortable scoop chair that had been built into the machine, Cam grabbed at the cables littering the large control room of the mech, plugging in the wires where she could, hooking one end of the cables into the machine, the other into the datapad in her lap. It had taken the time on the _Daedalus _as well as some from when she'd been on Earth to get as far as discovering how to get inside and Cam sighed, leaning her head back in the chair.

She'd learned quickly after the first few bare skinned touches to the Tenoid that it was better for everyone nearby if she wore gloves. Still, the rest of her exposed skin was still a problem and more than once Cam had felt Kel'an taking over control and pulling her head or arms back from the mech before things could get dangerous.

Still, with her two friends, the Tok'ra's work had gone further quicker, making things a little easier for her to work in the City, allowing herself a little more time to relax as she did both translations for the various other departments as well as work on the Tenoids.

Thinking of the Tenoids, the woman looked down at her datapad, frowning at the information starting to appear on the screen, even as she became vaguely aware of a presence on the scaffolding that surrounded the entirety of Tenoid Mech 3. Along with the personal belongings of both her and Martouf, Cam had managed to get some scaffolding shipped into the _Daedalus' _cargo bay, well aware of the need where a 30 meter tall machine was concerned in Atlantis.

"Okay," she called to the presence. "Go ahead Jonas. Give me a signal and I'll start the Mech."

"Ma'am," she heard the voice of Major Lorne respond. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but Colonel Sheppard's calling a meeting in Dr. Weir's office. He's asked that you be there."

Cam looked up from the datapad and saw the Lieutenant standing where she had presumed Jonas was and sighed, barely controlling the growl that rumbled angrily in her chest. _Timing, _she muttered angrily.

**_And just when we were about to start the Tenoid up, too, _**Kel'an agreed. **_It is most annoying._**

Cam snorted. _Annoying? It's far more than that._ With a sigh, the Tok'ra shifted slightly inside the monitor room of the mech before she stood up. "I'm coming out, Lorne," she told him. "Stay clear of the cables and I may just make it out of the Tenoid with very little damage done."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Pacing the width of Elizabeth's office, John bit his lip as he tried to control his emotions. For the first time it appeared that someone out in the Pegasus galaxy had decided to kill a Wraith from the report that Major Lorne had given. And apparently the man had been eager to please as he'd followed through on his request to have Camilla at the meeting he was holding.

Lorne had left the other part of his order alone; that of getting himself cleaned up before returning. It seemed that in getting Camilla and her brother, the man didn't have enough time to get the dirt off of his face. Or at least, that was the excuse John was expecting the man to give him.

"Is the Gate covered?" he asked Lorne.

The Major nodded in answer as Elizabeth moved around her desk to lean against her desk, Camilla leaning against one of the metal pillars in the room, her arms crossed over her chest as her brother did the same at the next pillar.

"Coughlin and Reed, yeah," he answered.

John heard footsteps and turned slightly to look at who it was, mildly relieved when he saw Teyla.

"We found a dead Wraith," he informed her calmly. "Shot several times."

"It looked like bullets," Lorne added calmly. "But it's hard to say, the guy was a mess."

Teyla nodded at the new information. "The Genii use such weapons," she said, voicing John's thoughts.

"Dr. Beckett is performing an autopsy," Elizabeth told him before Camilla chuckled.

"Actually, here he is now," Camilla corrected her, nodding to the doorway.

John saw the doctor in question, watching as he came in quickly, panting slightly. "I'm nae done," he panted. "Nae nearly, but I though' y' might like ta know this. The enzyme sac on the right arm has been removed."

It took John a few seconds to piece the information together. "Ford!" he said, the Lieutenant's name the only word he could manage.

Camilla groaned herself. "Of course," she said. "The Genii have no real need to be on that planet, especially considering their desire to create nuclear weapons."

John turned around at the sound of footsteps coming up the walkway and he sighed as he saw Rodney. "What's going on?" the scientist asked.

John smiled at him. "Thanks for coming Rodney," he said as sarcastically as he knew his smile was.

"What?" he asked. "I was right in the middle of…"

"P3M-736," Elizabeth interrupted him. "We found a dead Wraith; maybe killed by Ford."

John nodded at that. "He could still be there," he added.

Rodney looked confused for a moment. "Whoa, wait a second; 736?" he asked. "The UV index there during the day is something like a thousand."

John nodded at that, seeing Elizabeth nod at him, answering his unspoken question. "Bring your sunscreen," he ordered the Canadian. "Be ready in ten minutes." He walked out of the office, slowing slightly on the walkway. "You too Camilla!"

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam walked calmly up the ramp of the Jumper, nodding politely at Lorne, smiling slightly as she carefully unclipped her Staff Weapon from across her back and gripped firmly, walking into the front cabin of the Jumper where John sat in the pilot's seat, performing all the pre-flight checks while Rodney and Teyla waited patiently.

"I'm surprised that you are coming along, Camilla," the Athosian commented.

**_Frankly, as am I, _**Kel'an muttered. **_I would have thought the draw of the Tenoid would have kept you in the lab._**

The Tok'ra smiled as she sat down in the seat behind the co-pilot's seat. "I like Ford as much as any of us," she said. "I trusted him when he was in the City, and I want to try and help bring him back." She chuckled and nodded to John. "And it is not as if I can disregard any orders from our Military Commander."

Teyla smiled as she took her own seat with a smile, a quiet chuckle of her own echoing in the air. "I understand," she said. "It is why I put aside my duties for my people for this mission. My people are willing to wait until we bring Aiden back to Atlantis."

Cam grinned at the older woman as Rodney rolled his eyes and sat down in the co-pilot's seat with a sigh. "Not that the City exists anymore," she said.

Teyla returned her smile and nodded once in answer, both women hearing John chuckling as he took control of the Jumper. "Both of you need to remember that," he said as they slipped down into the Gateroom. "Don't need to tell any of the other locals about the lie to the Wraith."

Cam snorted at that. "Not very likely, John," she told him, well aware of Lorne watching on in amusement. "Can we expect the same from you, Lorne?"

She turned to look at the man, seeing him flushing slightly before he nodded in answer. "Yes ma'am," he answered. "I can keep quiet about the City."

Cam nodded at that, even as she felt the Jumper flying through the Gate, her body jolting slightly, even as the rush of going through the Stargate hit her. Moments after the Jumper shot through the Gate, Cam recognised the sight of rain hitting the Ancient glass-like material of the front window of the Jumper before John brought the Jumper to land a few yards passed the arching range of the Stargate.

Leaning back in her seat, Cam waited for the Jumper to shut down the according Ancient systems before John brought up the LSD on screen. That brought a sigh of frustration out from Cam and John as they stared at it.

"Life signs detector's useless," the Colonel commented.

"I told you so," Rodney told him.

**_Well, there goes any hope of looking for the man the easy way, _**Kel'an sighed. **_Looks like you and I are going hunting the way Al'ek and I did at the beginning of his tenure as host._**

Cam rolled her eyes at that, both at her symbiote and her friend. "Are you trying to keep your streak of being right official, Rodney?" she asked the man as she stood.

The man rolled his own eyes at her. "Dr. Parrish believes that the indigenous plant life retains enough residual radioactivity to… um… well, screw up our sensors."

"Making it the perfect place to hide," John commented as he stood up and headed towards the back of the Jumper, nodding to Lorne as Cam pressed a hand against the Ancient metal of the Jumper.

_Open ramp, _she ordered before pulling her hand back.

She didn't need to turn her head to know that the ramp was lowering itself, the sound of rain outside the Jumper getting slightly louder as Lorne walked out of the Jumper to speak with his men. The Tok'ra stood up, ignoring Rodney as she twisted slightly and slid her Staff Weapon into the holster strapped across her back, feeling the increase of weight across her back before she rolled her shoulders and settled the weight more comfortably, gesturing for Teyla to precede her.

"Start a sweep," John ordered. "Teams of two; radio contact every twenty minutes."

Cam looked at Rodney as she checked that she had her other weapons – specifically the Chulak daggers and her P-90; as much as the woman hated carrying the weapon alongside her Staff Weapon, the only way the good _Colonel _of their hunting party was for her to carry one – and saw the Canadian scientist smearing something across his skin.

"How come it smells like I'm on vacation?" John asked.

Rodney hummed in answer. "Could it be the simulated tropical aroma of cocoa butter?" he asked in return.

Cam shook her head sadly at that, moving passed the man, passed John and out into the light rain. "It's strong enough Rodney, I'd be able to track you from five miles away on the smell of that alone," she told the scientist as she shook her head. "And I'm a fairly bad tracker."

"It's not like they haven't been tipped off by the Aqua Velva," Rodney told her.

Cam turned, seeing John shaking his head as he looked followed her, looking up. "It's dark," he commented.

Rodney snorted and looked at his watch. "Yeah, and the sun will be up in two hours," he said, "forty-three minutes and ten seconds."

**_My, he's being accurate today, _**Kel'an murmured in her mind. **_I don't know whether to hit him or to help him to the nearest deep pool of water and throw him in._**

Cam shook her head with a soft smile. _I am certainly tempted to help you with that, Kel', _she replied. _You know I wasn't joking about being able to track him._

Kel'an hummed in her mind, the two of them sharing control over Cam's body as they shifted it as one before settling. **_Your skills may be atrocious, but you were right, _**she agreed. **_A better tracker would have no problem tracking Rodney from well over ten miles or more._**

The woman sighed, shaking her head, bringing her mind out from her conversation as she heard John's voice change slightly in tone. "Teyla, Camilla, you're with me," he was saying. "Coughlin, take Billick; Reed: you and Sherman cover the Gate; and Major, you've got McKay."

Remembering the pain from the first few interactions with the man, Cam walked over to Lorne, patting his shoulder as he shook his own head. "Oh, lucky me," he muttered, irony clear in the tone of his voice.

Cam patted his shoulder again. "You'll get used to him, Lorne," she promised him before she turned and followed after John and Teyla, the two walking in to the trees.

Cam trotted to reach them and watched as John drew out a flash light and pointed the bright beam at the forest floor. Following the footprints in the soft dirt, it didn't take long to reach the area that Lorne had reported the Wraith had been found at.

As John moved to crouch beside the Wraith weapons left behind, Cam moved around the area, feeling Kel'an enhancing her eyesight as much as she could, both of them straining to look for any detail to help them.

"You have any idea what a lone Wraith would be doing out here on foot?" John asked.

Cam turned to look at Teyla, seeing the Athosian shaking her head. "No," she answered. "It is unusual." She shook her head again as she shone her torch around the trees. "Perhaps Lieutenant Ford was able to lure him through the Gate."

Cam crouched down as she saw a mark in the dirt and she narrowed her eyes at the sight that met her. "It looks like someone was running through here," she said quietly.

Teyla crouched down where she stood and Cam saw the other woman frowning as she saw the same indentations that had drawn Cam's attention. "Indeed," she agreed as John stood up. "It looks as if someone might have headed off in this direction."

Cam let Teyla take the lead, moving to follow the woman, even as she felt Kel'an quickly heightening her senses, trying to help where she could as Cam felt John joining them as they moved through the trees, following the tracks.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon crouched down in the brush of the planet, watching the three people walking towards him. Cursing his own stupidity at not leaving the planet sooner, he watched them, noting two women and one man.

The Satedan, even though he was a Runner, was curious about the relationship between the small group as they walked close together, the two women looking around them as they carried weapons. As he shifted, Ronon silently cursed as he felt a twig snap under his boot, the two women freezing and tensing.

"What is it?" the man in their group asked quietly, stopping at the same time.

The man's tone of voice didn't sound familiar to any planet or people he had heard before, but neither did their clothes. "I heard something," the one woman responded.

"I did as well," the other commented, turning her head and running a hand through her pale hair as she seemed to try and keep it back from her face. "I heard something break, but I can't tell _where_."

Ronon tensed, watching as the man turned slightly. "Ford?" he called out. "That you? It's John."

Ronon frowned, shifting as silently as he could, struggling to get a closer look at the people, frowning at their words; as much as he understood the words, he didn't understand what they were hoping to get in answer.

"Aiden," the one woman said. "Listen to me. We want to help you, please!"

The other woman took a step forward, lowering the weapon in her arms as she looked around. "Ford, please," she called out. "Come on out, we just want to talk. Please Ford."

Hearing enough, Ronon took a breath and broke cover, racing in the opposite direction from the people. He had to get away before the Wraith managed to send another group to hunt him down. Even with seven years under his belt and a determination to not let the Wraith capture or kill him, he knew he was getting too old to be doing it for too much longer.

As he ran, racing ahead of the people that he could hear following him, a plan was forming in his mind as he ran. As soon as he was sure that they couldn't see him, Ronon skidded to one side and moved back from the path he knew the people following him would take. Drawing his blaster, he contemplated killing them all before he set his weapon to stun, covering the glowing and charged end with a palm, hiding the glow from the ones chasing him.

After a few seconds he saw one of the women and took aim, firing after a moment. Hearing her cry, he saw the other woman skid to a halt, her hands reaching to her back and pulling a staff loose. Ronon aimed at the woman as she crouched down slightly and the weapon flickered a dark, deep, blood red for a moment. Watching as the man joined the woman, Ronon fired on her first before turning his weapon onto the man, watching as the two arched before collapsing.

Giving his weapon a few more seconds to take effect on the people, Ronon waited before he walked over to them, standing over them as he contemplated what to do.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam came to with a series of coughs that left her winded and struggling for breath. The pain of a massive headache followed quickly after and Cam groaned as she struggled to open her eyes, her body feeling incredibly weak alongside the deep burning ache that had seeped into her bones.

Recognising the effects of a stunner, Cam didn't panic when she didn't sense Kel'an in her mind, remembering the times that it had happened before. Kel'an would be awake shortly after her, soothing the pain that filled her. Shaking the feeling off, Cam shifted as much as she could on the ground where she knew she was lying.

With her eyes open, Cam was greeted by the sight of John and Teyla sitting in front of her, back to back and obviously bound from the way their hands disappeared between their unconscious bodies. Shifting again, Cam hissed as she felt a coarse rope around her wrists, the material quickly making her skin burn.

Letting her head rest back down on the rock covered floor, Cam shifted as much as she could, trying to get a better look around the room that she and the others had been placed in. At the sight of bright sunlight, Cam winced and she could only summarise that they had been placed inside a cave by the man that she could see at the entrance, his body bowed as he crouched down at a pile of objects – one of which that she could see was her Staff Weapon.

"Ford?"

Startled by the sudden voice, Cam turned her head to look at John, seeing the man frowning at the sight of the unknown man. Seeing the Colonel shaking his head, he froze as he looked at her.

"You okay, Carter?" he asked.

Cam nodded before she winced, feeling her breathing catch slightly at the movement. "I've been better," she answered. "But I've been far, far worse."

The man nodded, even as they both saw Teyla shifting slightly before she groaned. "Colonel?" the Athosian asked quietly.

"You okay?" he asked.

Cam smiled slightly at that – it seemed that all the man could ask was how they all were.

"My head is pounding," Teyla told him. "Where are we?"

John shook his head. "I don't know," he replied in answer. "But I was just about to ask _him_."

Cam looked back at the entrance of the cave, cursing quietly under her breath as she scraped her hands against the sharp rocks. The man had stood up in the time it had taken her to move and she couldn't help but swallow convulsively at the height of the man; he seemed to be well over six foot in height and Cam was willing to bet that the man was closer to seven than six and well over the top height she had known Teal'c to stand at. She also couldn't help but notice that he held a P-90 in one hand, easily dwarfing Cam's own grip on it.

"You might want to be careful where you point that thing," Cam heard John comment. "Looks like you've got the safety off."

In a moment of awe, Cam watched as the stranger looked first at the weapon, then at John before he professionally readied the gun, loading a round into the barrel. Swallowing around the catch in her throat, the Tok'ra host found herself staring at the man who was easily aiming the P-90 at John.

The Colonel nodded slightly at that. "Okay," he said. "Be that way. But my guess is if you wanted us dead, we'd be dead now, so why don't you tell us who you are and what you want."

They waited, but the man didn't move, looking at him as he continued to aim the gun at him and Cam saw John nod once more.

"Alright," the man muttered. "I'll go first. I'm Lieutenant **_Colonel _**John Sheppard."

Cam took a breath in, forcing it past the catch in her throat – a small bubble of panic growing in the back of her mind, out of the way – as she saw John's shoulders shifting slightly, obviously nudging Teyla as the woman bowed her head, looking at the man as much as she could from her position facing away from him.

"I am Teyla Emmagan," she said gently.

Cam watched as the large man's gaze tracked to her and she bowed her head politely at him. "I am Camilla Carter," she said as calmly as she could.

She watched as his gaze tracked back to John. "'Colonel'?" he rumbled.

The man's voice sounded rough and worn from a lack of use, Cam noted as she breathed in again, feeling it catch on the way in. Now, with the short time that had passed, the female Tok'ra began to worry. Kel'an had been unconscious for just a bit too long than she felt comfortable with.

"It's my rank," John answered, drawing her out of her thoughts. "Military designation."

The stranger nodded slightly. "Specialist Ronon Dex," he said quietly.

"That's you?" John asked.

Specialist Dex just smirked at him. "Name and rank," he said as he lifted the P-90 up and away from them before he turned around and walked away, back to their kit at the front of the cave.

"Military?" John asked him carefully.

Dex crouched down at their kit and turned slightly to look at them. "I used to be," he answered, turning and placing the P-90 down. "It was a long time ago."

Cam swallowed after a moment. "And now?" she asked gently.

Dex turned again, looking at them. "Now I'm deciding whether to kill you and your friends," he said.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon kept an eye on the group, watching as the light haired woman slowly sat up, grunting with the effort it took before she leaned back against the cave wall. He had kept a closer eye on her when he'd spotted the sweat spotting her forehead and had seen the quick rise and fall of her chest as she seemed to struggle to breathe.

That had been a few minutes ago and Ronon looked up from their belongings as he heard a sudden, hacking cough. Thinking it had been the man, he had started to glare at him until he saw both the man and the woman he'd tied him to looking at the other woman who was doubled over, coughing loudly.

Wincing at the noise, Ronon buried his reaction to check for the Wraith and their flying ships and watched as the coughing stopped before shudders took over the woman's shoulders.

All he could hear her muttering were words that he had long ago associated with the Ancestors the prayers he had heard on various planets, including his own. He could make out 'asordo' and 'amacus', two words that he knew meant help and friend and he frowned at that.

Who could the woman be asking for help, was the first question that came to him while another about why followed soon after.

"Camilla?" the Colonel asked. "You sure you're okay?"

The woman chuckled softly, coughing lightly again before she lifted herself up again with a pained grunt. "Nothing is _cruvus_ with me," she answered. ["Nothing is wrong with me"]

Ronon watched as the other two frowned and shared a look that spoke volumes to him. "Cruvus?" the Colonel asked.

Ronon looked at the woman and saw her pale at that. "Oh no," she muttered before taking in a shaking breath and sighing. "At least I'm _subo _the_ tempus _unlike last time_._" ["At least I'm below the time unlike last time."]

The Runner frowned at that, the words the woman having spoken went beyond what he could understand and he shook his head.

"Mind repeating that in English, Camilla?" Sheppard asked.

The woman, Carter, groaned then coughed again. "Kel'an's not…waking up," she said slowly, a frown creasing her face. "Ancient knowledge is… working through my mind."

Ronon reached for the cream he knew would protect his skin from the bright sunlight and began to rub it in as he watched the group. "Kel'an's not awake," Sheppard repeated. "So, breathing's a problem?"

Carter grunted. "_Etium_," she answered before she shook her head firmly. "Yes," she ground out. "_Mai'tac_… why can't I speak properly?!"

Ronon watched them carefully as he thought over the name 'Kel'an', wondering about the significance and the use of the person or being that they were talking over, even as he watched Sheppard, the man leaning his head back slightly, his eyes darting from one side to the other as he seemed to think something over.

When the man lifted his head, he looked at Carter before he nodded and looked at Ronon calmly. "Look, the men guarding the Stargate are highly-trained soldiers armed with deadly weapons," he said.

The one words confused him and he frowned. "Stargate?" he asked.

"Stargate, Chappa'ai, Ancestral Ring," Carter spoke carefully, her words spoken slowly as if she were weighing them before saying anything more.

Sheppard snorted. "It's the big circle thing," he said.

The terms the woman had given had given him other words, words he could see himself using later in life. "I've always know it as the Ring of Ancestors," he told them before he shook his head and put the cream away, slipping the remainder back into the pouch he'd taken it from. "No matter. I have to make it through."

Sheppard seemed to grind his teeth. "Look, we didn't come here looking for trouble," he said firmly. "And the whole killing thing is really unnecessary."

Ronon looked at the military man. "If your friends try to stop me-" he began before Sheppard shook his head.

"They won't," he said. "If I tell them not to. Untie us, we'll all go to the Gate together and you can be on your way."

"Why should I trust you?" he asked Sheppard with a snarl in his voice.

He saw the man's eyes narrow thoughtfully at that. "That's a good question," he said. "Teyla, why should he trust us?"

The woman sat behind him nodded at that as she looked at him, twisting her body as much as she could. "We mean you no harm," she said calmly. "We are only here searching for a friend."

Ronon narrowed his own eyes, thinking. He'd seen the odd clothing before, somewhere, on the planet. Then he remembered, it had been the day before, running and firing on the Wraith that had followed him to the planet. He remembered running into a strangely dressed man, one eye normal, the other completely covered in darkness.

"I saw him," the Satedan told them as he stood and walked over. "Your friend."

Sheppard's eyes followed him, widening in surprised. "Where?" he asked. "When?"

Ronon shook his head. "He killed the Wraith that was hunting me," he said.

"Hunting you?" Carter asked.

Ronon nodded at the woman. "Why are you looking for him?" he asked.

He was curious why these people were hunting for one of their own. If they were anything like the Wraith, he was willing to keep them away from the other. If the man was a criminal, his Satedan values told him he had to help, as much as he risked the Wraith killing them.

"His name is Aiden Ford," the dark haired woman spoke as he stood in front of her, leaning down to pick up a small bag of his. "He is sick and needs our help."

He grunted, remembering the mismatched eyes that had glared at him. "Thought he'd been in the sun too long," he said. "It can make you sick here."

Continuing his preparations to leave the planet, he moved back to the entrance of the cave. "We know that," Sheppard said. "And that may be true, but that's not all that's wrong with him."

Ronon dropped his bag and looked at him. "Then why is he running from you?" he asked.

"Well, he's not," the man replied. "Not exactly."

Crouching down in front of Sheppard, Ronon tilted his head, resting a hand on his sword, feeling the familiar bone pommel he'd made. "Then what is he doing," he asked, "exactly?"

"It's complicated," the Colonel told him.

If he thought that would dissuade him, then Sheppard was a dumb man. "You can do better than that," he rumbled.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam paused to cough, already planning the next sentence she was going to be speaking. Without Kel'an to keep the Ancient knowledge in check, she could feel how quickly it was spreading through her mind and brain, taking over portions in minutes that would have ordinarily taken days to complete.

"When we were defending… our home, a Wraith fed on him," she said, fighting against her own breathing difficulties. "They inject a drug into you when… they feed." She couldn't suppress her cough, but turned her face away, coughing into her right shoulder. "Ford killed the Wraith and got an overdose… of the drug."

Teyla sighed at that. "But we think we can help him if we can find him," she said.

Cam started as she heard a sudden radio crackling before static echoed from their packs. She saw Dex look over at the packs before he looked back at them.

"What is that?" he asked.

"Radios," the man answered.

"Communication devices," Teyla clarified.

"The rest of our people are trying to… contact us," Cam told the man. "The cave is causing interference."

She watched as Dex stood up, grabbed one pack and left the cave. When she saw Teyla shifting slightly, she couldn't suppress an amused snort as John jumped slightly in surprised.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he hissed.

"Getting my hand free," Teyla hissed back.

"Didn't feel that way!"

Cam rolled her eyes as Teyla pulled her left arm in front of her before she moved her right with a relieved sigh. "Lean forwards, Camilla," she said as she moved quietly over. "I will free your hands."

Cam did as she as she'd ordered, leaning as far forwards as she dared without coughing before she felt the Athosian pulling at the rope. It took several seconds before the Tok'ra felt the rope give way to the older woman's strength and she sighed in relief as she moved her hands in front of her and rubbed at her surprisingly raw wrists.

"You up to break-out?" John asked her quietly.

Cam smiled slightly at him, nodding and taking his hand when he held it out to her. She let the standing man pull her to her feet before they moved carefully to their belongings, picking up their weapons first and foremost.

A-A-A-A-A-A

John stepped out first, his P-90 settled familiarly against his shoulder as he aimed at Dex, well aware that Teyla and Camilla were going to follow him in a few short seconds, the two women arming themselves as the Tok'ra host struggled to get Kel'an to wake up in her own mind.

The Colonel watched as Dex walked around the clearing, holding his pack in one hand, the radio from the pack in the other. The man was obviously trying to get a clear signal and as he turned around, John saw something flash across his face before it was masked.

"Keep your hands where I can see them," he ordered.

He watched as Dex moved carefully, placing the radio back into the tac vest and John sensed Teyla moving up behind him and to his left before he sensed Camilla doing the same as she moved to his right.

He saw the glare aimed at them all. "I told you," the man ground out, "I have to get to the Ring."

John tilted his head. "Why?" he asked.

He didn't trust the man; he'd stunned them, taken their unconscious bodies to somewhere on the planet and had promptly frisked them and disarmed them. John could only wonder how Camilla had felt, waking up, knowing that her weapons were anywhere but near her.

"Because the Wraith are coming," Dex replied.

"How do you know?" John asked.

He had never heard of people willing to help the Wraith, but the Pegasus galaxy had already thrown one too many curve balls at his understanding, so he really was ready to listen.

"They're hunting me."

He'd already said that, when he'd told them about Ford and John snorted. "Join the club," he said.

It wasn't far from the truth, John mused. With Atlantis 'destroyed' and the Wraith believing they still lived, without the City, they were hunted.

"You are a Runner," Teyla said, astonishment clear in her voice and John watched as the man turned his gaze to the Athosian before he nodded. "I have heard stories, but…"

He heard her trail off and he spared his teammate a glance. "What's a Runner?" he asked.

"Runners are humans Wraith could… or would not feed on," Camilla answered quietly. "Only… heard stories."

Dex nodded again, this time at Camilla, his eyes almost imperceptibly wide at her words. "I was captured during a culling on my planet," the 'Runner' said. "I was taken to a ship. A Wraith started to feed on me; something made him stop. They operated on me – put some sort of tracking device in my back and released me." John saw the other man gesture to his back with his free hand. "They hunted me, I hunted them back." He looked at John as he lowered his arm. "I've been running ever since."

John saw his free hand inching its way towards the gun strapped to his leg and the Colonel took a step forwards. "Don't do it," he ordered. "Like I said, we're not here to get in your way."

Dex nodded and smirked. "That's good," he commented.

John didn't get any warning of what the man did and he reacted when he threw his pack at him. As he tried to shoot at Dex, his pack landed on him, knocking his aim off for a precious few seconds and he heard a whining shock similar to Camilla's Staff Weapon filling the air once, then twice and John made to shoot again, only to gasp as a red beam from the weapon struck his arm and the P-90, forcing him to drop it. Before he could recover, John was staring down the barrel of Dex's weapon and he swallowed.

"You're lucky I had that set to stun," the Runner growled.

John spared a glance at Teyla and Camilla, wincing when he saw both women, lying on the ground, their bodies still and their weapons on the ground near them. From Dex's words, the two were only stunned and would soon wake up.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Waking up to the second worst headache in her life, Cam groaned as she knuckled her forehead, feeling the sadly familiar pain of the Ancient knowledge expanding inside her mind, thankfully slower now as it reached part of her brain it had never come across before in its previous attempts to re-write her brain.

Teyla had woken up minutes before her, a headache of her own growing from the expression on the woman's face.

"Look, you want to go through the Gate, go," John said finally. "Give me my radio, I'll order my men not to stop you."

Cam looked up, stopping her hand from knuckling her forehead again, taking in the sight that met her. The Runner had his weapon aimed at John, his arm not wavering, not moving.

"You can tell them in person," Dex growled. "I'm taking you with me."

When Dex moved his aim to her, Cam stiffened before she saw John step slightly between them. "You know," the man said. "There's a chance we could help you."

Cam saw the flicker of interest before it faded behind a stoic mask. "How?" he asked.

"We know a pretty good doctor," John answered. "Maybe he could take that tracking device out of you."

Dex curled his upper lip in a sneer. "You think I haven't tried?" he asked.

John shrugged a shoulder and Cam could see the hint of defeat in his stance, nothing that anyone else – including Specialist Ronon Dex – would have been able to see. "Suit yourself," he said.

Cam looked to Dex, seeing the contemplation before he looked at John. "And why would you do that?" he asked.

"Because I'm a nice guy," John answered automatically. "Look, I told you. You hate the Wraith, we hate the Wraith, it is something we all have in common. We just want our friend back."

Cam watched as Dex seemed to think it over before he grunted. "You get this tracking device out of me," he said, "I'll get your friend back for you."

Cam saw her friend's shoulder droop slightly in relief. "Okay, good," he said. "It's a deal."

Dex shrugged. "One of you has to stay," he said.

Before Cam could let one of her friends do something they would regret, she sighed. "I'll do it," she said.

A-A-A-A-A-A

John turned and stared at the woman, unsure if he had heard her correctly. He was entirely sure that his hearing had misfired or something like that when she'd spoken and he couldn't help but arch an eyebrow at her.

"You'll do what?" he asked her.

The woman looked back at him, one of her own eyebrows arching at him. "I'll stay," she said firmly. "You and Teyla… go."

John turned slightly to look at her, well aware that Dex was still pointing his weapon at him. "You know exactly what Elizabeth, Carson and Martouf will do to me," he told her.

As much as he trusted Martouf to watch his back, he could honestly say that he didn't want to be anywhere near the male Tok'ra when he learned where exactly he'd left his sister. Camilla nodded in answer.

"Makes Carson come quicker," she said slowly and carefully, even as he heard her struggling to breathe properly. "Kel'an unconscious… means he'll come quicker."

John lifted his right hand up to his face and tiredly pinched the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes. His instincts were telling him to leave Teyla and take Camilla with him and he was not ashamed to admit that it was more out of sense of self preservation on his part.

"They really _aren't _going to like this," he muttered.

"Do I have to… order you, Colonel?" Camilla asked him archly.

Opening one eye to look at her, John knew when he was beat and he shook his head. "Alright," he said, seeing Teyla arching an eyebrow. "But if your brother comes looking for blood, I'm pointing him straight at you."

The woman gave him a weak smile in answer. "I'll deal with Martouf… Colonel," she said. "Now, please, go to the _Astria Porta_." The woman closed her eyes and sighed. "Stargate," she said firmly.

John chuckled at that despite himself and nodded. "Whatever you say," he said.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Teyla did not agree with Colonel Sheppard in leaving Camilla Carter behind, but she could understand the points put forward by both of her friends and allies. Leaving Camilla Carter behind with the Runner Ronon Dex did not sit well with her but it sat better in the knowledge that Doctor Beckett would leave Atlantis quicker for the ailing woman than if she herself had stayed.

She did not mind knowing that the man would move quicker for Camilla than herself, it was common for her own people to treat the more seriously injured then the lesser so. It seemed that these people from Earth held the same view as her and the rest of the Athosians.

Teyla easily followed John towards the Puddle Jumper, feeling the daylight rain striking her as they neared it, seeing one of the men coming out from the ship.

"Major," Reed, one of Major Lorne's men, greeted. "Ma'am."

"Where's Lorne?" John asked quickly.

"He's inside, sir," Reed replied.

Teyla stepped inside, seeing the Major groggily getting to his feet, his gestures and posture sluggish.

"What happened to you?" John asked as he walked past the man into the cockpit, Teyla moving to joining the two men.

"I got hit by a Wraith blaster looking for you," the Major answered. "Now McKay's missing."

"Great!" John said as he took a seat in the Jumper and started dialling the Gate on the DHD that stood between the two front seats.

"What about Camilla?" Lorne asked him as he stood behind his superior.

"Long story," John told him calmly. "You can listen to it while I tell Dr. Weir."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Carson Beckett walked towards Elizabeth, tired from a long day of worrying about Ford, as they both stood in the infirmary. The nurses walked and talked around them.

"This is a joke right?" he asked her.

Elizabeth shook her head. "I'm afraid not," she said.

"Ye want me t' go t' an alien planet an' perform surgery on a man holding Camilla hostage?" he clarified for his own mental health. "An' the lass isnae in a good condition."

Elizabeth nodded her head. "Yeah," she said. "Something like that. And apparently you don't have much time. The Wraith could show up at any minute."

"Och!" the Scottish doctor said, astonished at the news. "It's getting better all the time!" He sighed then, hoping to get some good news. "Have they found Lieutenant Ford yet?"

Elizabeth shook her head again. "No," she said. "I haven't told you about Rodney yet either." Carson sighed and closed his eyes for a moment at the news before he opened his eyes again. "C'mon, pack up what you'll need."

Carson turned to the shelf behind him and started pulling a few things off of it. "I donnae think an operating room an' a bloody army will fit through the Gate," he muttered to himself before he started to swear quietly under his breath in Scottish.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam forced herself to breathe in, trying her hardest to ignore the catch as she did so. As she absently fiddled with the rope that had bound her wrists, she looked at Dex, seeing the man sitting opposite her in the cave's entrance, both of them sitting with their backs against the hard rock. It felt surprisingly cold to the fare skin of her shoulders, the dark leather jacket of her uniform draped over her legs, keeping them slightly warm while she felt the sunlight hitting her arms and the cream vest she wore. She'd also noticed Dex's gaze tracking what was visible of her tattoos before he'd aimed his blaster at her.

Cam knew her own hands were shaking without Kel'an's influence on her body, even as she saw Dex's blaster pointed unwaveringly at her. With another sigh, the woman collected the rope into a small ball in her hands, anything to steady them, and nodded to his blaster.

"This isn't… necessary, you know," she said carefully, well aware that her spoken words were going to get quickly overridden with Ancient.

The man stared at her for a few seconds before he pulled his hand back slightly and let the muzzle of his blaster tilt away from her. He seemed to think before he lowered his arm to lie on his leg, the weapon still in his hand, but somehow immeasurably more relaxed.

"May I ask how long you've… been on the run?" she asked, mentally cursing her breathing.

The man grunted. "Seven years," he told her.

Cam was surprised by his answer and tilted her head slightly. "You have been… alone… all this time?" she asked.

The man shrugged a shoulder. "Not much choice," he answered.

"…Afraid of bringing the Wraith down on…anyone you were with?" she continued.

He shook his head. "Can't go home," he corrected. "Can't stay in one place for too long."

Cam sighed, shaking her head as she turned her head to look out of the cave, looking at the trees and everything else outside. "Why do they do it?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know," Dex said. "Sport; training. Learn how we fight, measure our will to survive." He leaned forwards slightly, resting his arms on his knees. "Your friend said she'd heard stories about others, like me?"

Cam nodded at him, forcing a breath into her lungs. "We've been staying with Teyla's people… for a year now," she answered. "I like knowing stories of the people… I never thought the stories… would be true."

Dex nodded and relaxed slightly. "One time I accidentally came across a planet with a village near the Ring," he told her.

Cam tilted her head at the man. "What happened?" she asked him gently.

The woman knew well enough that she couldn't press the man too hard. Multiple times so many had done the same to her and she'd shut herself down to them, waiting for them to leave before she relaxed once more.

"I stayed," he said. "One night; ate a real meal for a change; left right away the next day." He shook his head. "Didn't matter: I later heard the whole village…"

Cam didn't need him to finish, understanding the desire that had filled Kel'an and several of the hosts before for just a chance to have a proper meal, not the rations that were the norm for Tok'ra in hiding from the Goa'uld. Kel'an had memories of the one occasion that a planet had been attacked by the Goa'uld for housing the Tok'ra under their town and city.

She nodded at Dex, trying to let him know she understood, even as she looked back out of the cave for a moment, taking in the surprising tranquillity.

"How do you know the language of the Ancestors?" the Runner asked her after a few minutes.

Cam looked at him, surprised by his question. She looked at him, trying to think of her answer.

"Where I'm from, the Ancients – Ancestors – left devices… behind," she answered. "The devices held their knowledge and put it in my head." She tapped her right temple with her hand, smiling ruefully. "Apparently… my _fron_ isn't big enough to hold it all." She shook her head slightly, biting her tongue. "Sorry… not _fron_, head."

She saw him frowning as he leaned back against the rock. "Who's Kel'an?" he asked. "You said their name earlier."

Cam smiled weakly, genuinely, at his question. "Kel'an is a close _amacus_." She winced at the Ancient that slipped out. "_Friend_," she corrected firmly. "She keeps me alive and… I protect her. Her people are called… the Tok'ra."

More out of habit, Cam rubbed the back of her neck, feeling the slightly more firm muscle winding up and around her spine. She glanced up at Ronon, seeing the man's confusion as his eyes tracked her hand before they both heard the radio in John's pack start up.

_"Camilla, this is Sheppard, come in," _John said, his voice echoing out from the radio.

Cam watched as Dex reached for the pack and removed the radio before he handed it to her. She nodded as she took it and switched the radio on completely.

"Go ahead, Colonel," she said.

_"You okay?" _John asked.

Cam chuckled at that before she coughed, wincing. "We're both fine," she answered.

_"Good, means your brother's not going to kill me just yet then," _the man said. _"Look, I'm here with Dr. Beckett. He's coming in."_

Cam glanced over at Dex, seeing the blaster pointed at her again. "Unarmed," he said.

She nodded at the man. "Ronon would like me to remind you… that Dr. Beckett is to remain… unarmed," she relayed for him.

_"Ignoring the scalpels and syringes that the doc' has with him, no guns, knives or explosives," _John answered. _"Though I'm pretty sure Dr. Beckett needs the scalpels and syringes."_

Cam looked to Ronon, seeing him nod in answer, accepting the Colonel's words. "You can send him in," she said softly before she switched off the radio and reached for her jacket, slipping it one quickly, feeling the warm leather heating her own skin.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon lifted the woman to her feet, surprised by how little she seemed to weigh and how her body seemed to shake slightly as she got her feet underneath her before she nodded and stood up straighter.

He led her out into the clearing of the cave and kept his blaster pointed at the woman as they both faced the only entrance into the clearing – the main reason Ronon had picked the cave as well as the fact that he knew it had a hidden exit. If he could, he'd visit the planet again, it was always good to have a few back-ups ready to use.

Standing, waiting with the packs placed on the large stone wall behind them, Ronon head the 'doctor' before he saw the man. His dark hair and pale skin were a surprise, as was the fact that the man was laden down with bags upon bags and bags. A small part of Ronon winced at that; how could they run from the Wraith if they all carried so much?

"Hullo," the 'doctor' said as he stood under one of the stone arches near the entrance to the clearing. "I normally donnae make house calls like this, but then again, this isnae really a house, is it?"

He heard a soft chuckle from Carter, seeing her shaking her head even as he grunted. "What's in the case, doc?" he asked.

Ronon had already seen and pointed out that the man carried at least one hard case as he walked calmly into the clearing and Ronon gently nudged Carter to move ahead of him to one side. If it turned out that this wasn't the 'doctor', he didn't want to be too close.

"Surgical implements, diagnostic tools, various drugs, analgesics, antibiotics," the man listed easily.

The majority of that list eluded Ronon and he glanced at Carter. "What?" he asked.

The woman chuckled again, smiling slightly as she nodded. "Tools to remove the tracker, to find it and monitor the body… and various medicines for surgery and the aftercare," she answered before she nodded at the healer. "Carson, this is Ronon Dex." She glanced at him calmly. "Ronon Dex, Dr. Carson Beckett."

Ronon grunted at that. "Pleasure," the doctor said. "I understand y' have some sort of transmitter in yer back." He moved behind the stone wall and Ronon turned to keep the man in sight. "Well, have a seat. Off with yer shirt, let's have a look."

The Satedan glanced at Carter before he sat down, hearing the healer working behind him, placing the things he had brought with him. He nodded at the woman, his weapon still aimed at her.

"A little help," he said to her.

Carter nodded and glanced behind him to the healer before she set to work, her hands shaking slightly as she worked at the Wraith buttons that made up part of his mauled and piece-meal armour. He felt Dr. Beckett join in and felt the tangled dry moss and twig belt being carefully removed as Carter gently pushed the Wraith jacket off of him, stepping closer to push it down his free arm. As soon as she reached for the other, he shifted his blaster to his other hand and back when she was done.

He felt her gaze and looked up, seeing her gaze fixed on his chest where he knew both the scarring lay as well as the necklace of old and dried Wraith hands. He knew that to a lot of people the necklace itself was disturbing but to him, the sight of the Wraith scar every time he caught sight of it's reflection in water or the small mirror he carried was what he found most disturbing; it was a permanent reminder of what the Wraith had done to him.

Ronon also felt Dr. Beckett's gaze on his back.

"My God!" he heard him mutter. "Tell m' y' didnae try t' cut this thing out yerself."

Ronon shrugged one shoulder in answer, well aware of the other, more numerous scars that littered his back. "Yeah," he answered. "I tried once with a mirror; couldn't quite reach. Most of it is from two different doctors."

He heard the healer sigh angrily. "No one I know who calls himself a doctor would do this," he grumbled.

Ronon glanced up at Carter, seeing her eyes wide with what he could only describe as horror before he saw the doctor beside him, a humming coming from somewhere at his back. The man was holding something in his hand, the screen facing him.

"Is that Ancestor technology?" he asked, looking to Carter.

If the woman spoke the language and knew everything about the Ancestors, then maybe the technology her doctor held was from the Ancestors as well.

"Tha' it is," Beckett answered and Ronon saw the man give Carter a look as he lowered both his arms. "Son, ye're gonna have t' put tha' weapon down and lie down."

Ronon shook his head. "Not a chance," he said.

"Now y' listen t' me," the doctor said firmly. "I've located the transmitter. It's in the soft tissue next t' the second thoracic vertebrae."

That was more than what the other doctors had told him. "Good," he said. "Cut it out."

"I cannae do tha' with y' sitting up like this," the man protested. "And I gonna have t' give y' some anaesthetic t' make y' sleep."

Now that was what he hated. The Wraith had done that to him back on Sateda and he wasn't prepared to go through something like that ever again, not if he had any choice in the matter.

"No," he said. "You're not."

"Excuse me?!"

Carter looked at him. "Ronon," she said. "You need to trust us."

Didn't the woman understand that doing what he was, letting their healer this close, letting both the Colonel and Teyla go was more trust that he'd shown anyone in years, not since Sateda, not since Melena.

He wordlessly raised his blaster to point at Carter. "That's why he's here and you're still alive," he told her before he spared Doctor Beckett a look. "Now get to work, Doc."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam was well aware of Dex watching her as Carson completed the last of his pre-surgery checks, the man muttering angrily under his breath before he sighed, handing Cam a metal tray that she held out to the man over Dex's free shoulder.

"Okay," Carson said, wincing against the glare of the multiple spot lights they'd set up before darkness had settled on the planet, the majority of the lights focused onto the Runner and his back. "I'm ready. Look, I just want t' say one last time: I really donnae think this is a good idea. I'm going t' be cutting very close t' yer spinal column here. I y' were t' flinch…"

Dex snorted. "I won't flinch," he said.

And Cam believed he wouldn't. If the man had been on the run for even half of what he had said, then he would certainly have the constitution and the will to not flinch.

"Okay," Carson said, his tone revealing his reluctance as Cam saw him flipping down the magnifying lens. "Here we go."

Still holding out the tray, the Tok'ra host stood as still as she could, even as she felt the minute stirrings of Kel'an in her mind and body. She kept as still as she could as Carson took out a scalpel and set to work, cutting carefully into Dex's back.

Biting her lip, Cam struggled to ignore the sudden grunt of pain from him. She couldn't ignore is wavering aim for a moment before his hand steadied and Cam could only be surprised at the sheer strength and skill the man was showing in controlling his reactions.

It took several seconds before Cam heard the familiar grunt of satisfaction coming from Carson and she saw him pulling out a small, electronic device, a small smile splitting his face.

"I think I've got it," he said.

Cam saw Dex's expression at that and saw the glaze clouding his eyes moments before he toppled sideways. "Carson!" she snapped out to the man as she dropped the tray and grabbed at the Runner with both of her hands.

She struggled with the man and his sudden weight, feeling more and more of Kel'an stirring until finally she was awake in her mind, barely alert even as she helped her host to complete the task at hand.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon awoke to the sensation of pain, a sensation he was used to after his years as a Runner. But he also felt lighter despite the sharp throbbing in his right shoulder, the knowledge that the Wraith would no longer hunt him was liberating.

But, despite that, he knew he had let his guard down amoung the healer and Carter and he waited, waited to see what they would do. He felt something soft beneath him that didn't entirely mask the hard ground beneath him.

Gunfire had awoken him and he felt a hand gently weaving through his dread-locked hair, taking away the sudden need to leave.

"How are the two of y' feeling, lass?" he heard Beckett ask quietly as the man apparently packed various things away.

In response, Ronon heard a smooth chuckle. "We're both fine, Carson," Carter spoke. "Though both Kel' and I are barely resisting the urge to reconnect."

The doctor seemed to chuckle. "Aye," he said. "The two of you would be at it for a while."

Carter seemed to sigh. "As much as Kel'an's breathing for me now, Carson," she said and Ronon didn't hear a hitch in her voice or a pause as she struggled for a breath, "I would be unconscious for a few hours, letting Kel'an take care of the chaos the Ancient Knowledge has wrought on me."

"Did y' manage t' finish stitching the lad's shoulder?" Beckett asked after a few moments.

"I finished a while ago," Carter answered calmly. "The needle and thread are in the tray."

"Och!" the man said. "Y' mind takin' watch while I finish packing?"

Just as Ronon heard her chuckle gently, he tensed at the sudden sound of the Wraith ships. A quick burst of fear shot through him before it was replaced with anger and he sensed Carter and the doctor running, both of them muttering about checking for something.

Taking the opportunity, Ronon moved as quickly and silently as he could, grabbing his weapons and the remainder of his scavenged clothes. He spared a glance at the turned backs of the two that had kept watch over him before he moved into the cave and through it, out of the hidden exit.

He had made a promise to Colonel Sheppard and he fully intended on keeping it.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam heard the distinct, scream-like sound of Wraith darts and she cursed under her breath as she turned slightly to look at Carson.

"We need to head back inside," she told him.

As far as she was concerned, it would be easy for them to fight off the Wraith until the Jumper and Lorne appeared if they were inside the cave where the Wraith beam couldn't get at them to grab them.

As they both moved into the clearing, fully intent on grabbing Ronon Dex and dragging him into the cave, Cam felt her body freezing. The man had disappeared from where they had laid him on the soft shock blanket and the Tok'ra glanced around before she moved quickly into the cave, searching it thoroughly before she cursed.

**_A back way out, _**Kel'an muttered in her mind tiredly. **_We should have expected that._**

Cam shook her head as she poked her head out and looked out on the forest with a sigh before she turned around. _I should have expected it, _she said. _I knew he was a Runner, I should have known he would have given himself more than one exit out of a place like this. _She growled under her breath, shaking her head. _It is exactly what I would have done in his place._

"He went through the cave," she told Carson, seeing the man holding a rifle, his grip unsure and the woman moved to take it. "Get everything inside the cave."

The Scottish doctor nodded. "Aye," he agreed. "If y' would nae mind helpin' lass?"

Cam sighed and nodded, even as she reached for a radio. "John," she said firmly. "Ronon's gone, he left. There was another way out through the cave."

She heard the man growling under his breath in answer. _"Get back to the Jumper!" _he ordered.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon watched as Carter stood at the dialling device, unsure of whether he should follow her and her people through. Even though he'd given his word to go with Sheppard and let Beckett look at his shoulder, he was unsure of these people despite everything they had done for him.

But he would be lying if he said that he wasn't the least bit curious about these odd people. The people weren't all from one place, their skins and voices all too different from one another to be the same.

Then there was Carter, that woman was certainly different from the others, in one moment she was a weak, sickly woman then in the next she was whole and healthy, surprisingly fit for her apparent illness. She'd said it was part of her being different from the rest of their people, being a 'Tok'ra'. But he was certainly curious as to what made all these people different from one another.

Looking at the now visible craft, Ronon fought a shudder. He knew these people were advanced, well beyond anything he had ever known outside of the Wraith, but he couldn't stomach the thought of climbing into their craft to head to their planet. Maybe it was too many years spent as an unwilling Runner, but Ronon wanted to go in his own manner.

He watched as Carter looked away from the Ring of the Ancestors before she frowned, her eyes darting to him, then Sheppard and the other man he had cut down. "By Egeria, where is Ford?" she asked, her hands moving to rest on her hips.

With that movement, Ronon could see just how well armed the woman was now that she was free from his custody. She had daggers strapped to her hips, a small gun while the staff-like weapon he had seen before was strapped across her back.

Sheppard shook his head. "Jumped into a Wraith beam," he answered shortly. "Where's Carson?"

The woman rolled her eyes, but Ronon saw the quick burst of pain. "I had Lorne send him back to base," she answered. "I gave our resident doctor a message for Dr. Weir, so she's expecting us all."

Ronon watched as a silent conversation was held between the two as they merely looked at one another before the woman rolled her eyes and Sheppard sighed.

"We're going to make a few trips through the Gate, confuse the Wraith before we head back," he said.

Carter grinned. "Well, that's funny," she said, tilting her head, "I was planning on helping Ronon Dex do very much the same."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam would never know if her hunch was right, but with the memories she could remember without Kel'an helping, she would guess that Dex was uncomfortable with the idea of travelling to Atlantis in their Jumper. Too many hosts before her had had the same feelings many times when being forced to travel through the Stargate.

Al'ek himself had often preferred walking through the Stargate instead of travelling in the Ancient equivalent of a Needle Threader. If memory served her correctly, the modified Goa'uld Death Gliders didn't have an automatic piloting system for that and she controlled a shudder that she felt beginning at the base of her spine. She knew that John wouldn't like – much less Rodney or her brother when he eventually got wind of her plan.

Her thoughts were proven as John arched an eyebrow at her. "Remember what I said about your brother?" he asked.

Cam rolled her eyes at the man. "You said that you'd point him my way," she answered. "That still applies, Colonel. I just figured you'd want someone able to go with Ronon Dex." She shrugged a shoulder. "Oh well."

The man sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose again. "Martouf's going to be your problem," he said before he pulled out his GDO and passed it to her.

Cam smiled at that, opening the device up and looked at it before shutting it.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon didn't understand what the little device did that Carter typed at on the planet he'd eventually stopped on, deciding that he had made things difficult enough for the Wraith. He'd watched the woman dialling her planet confidently before she'd pulled out the device Sheppard had given her.

She'd barely batted an eye at the number of Rings he had taken her through, barely allowing the Rings to shut down before dialling another uninhabited planet and racing through to repeat the process. Something about the woman told Ronon that she knew what he felt like, that he needed to walk onto their planet instead of 'flying'.

He looked at the device in the woman's hands, her gaze focused on it as she seemed to wait for something. A light on the device changed from red to green and the woman smiled, nodding to herself before she closed it and slipped it away, turning to look at him.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

Nodding in answer, Ronon watched as she moved around the dialling device and went towards the Ring easily, comfortably. Taking a breath and steeling himself, Ronon followed after her.

Now, he'd known that her people were advanced, the ship that he had seen Sheppard climbing into was more than enough evidence of that, but stepping the Ring of the Ancestor's onto Carter's planet left him more than a little surprised. The inside of the structure that they were in on the planet was advanced, well beyond anything Ronon had ever known to exist outside of the stories told about the Ancestors and their Lost City.

Looking around himself as the Ring shut down behind him, Ronon could easily see the ornate appearances about him. The room may have been composed of harsh, straight edges, but the large, almost opulent stairs in front of him seemed more suitable for an offworld dancing room than the room that housed the Ring.

Hearing footsteps, Ronon was immediately on his guard and he watched as another woman, her hair far darker and shorter than that of Teyla Emmagan, dressed in clothes similar to what he remembered Sheppard wearing, but she wore a dark red shirt instead of the black he'd seen the military man wearing.

"Camilla," the woman said, smiling. "How are you feeling?"

The woman beside him chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Tired," she answered. "Sore and very much in need to communion with Kel'an." She smiled as she looked up at him before nodding politely. "Elizabeth, this is Specialist Ronon Dex."

The new woman smiled and looked at him, bowing her head politely and Ronon grunted. "Welcome to Atlantis," the woman said. "I'm Dr. Elizabeth Weir, leader of the expedition here."

He nodded his head in greeting even as he glanced at Carter. The woman smiled and nodded. "The Infirmary and Dr. Beckett is this way."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam rolled her eyes at Carson as she led the way into the Infirmary, seeing the familiarly harassed looking doctor. The man sighed and shook his head.

"Ye brother was here," he told her. "Asked m' where y' were."

Cam rolled her eyes again. "Well, he isn't here now," she told him soothingly. "I even brought Ronon Dex with me." Sighing as exhaustion that Kel'an wasn't able to keep back started to overtake her, she leaned against a nearby medical bed. "If you don't mind Carson, I'll sleep here tonight."

The man smiled at her and nodded and Cam felt a quick burst of energy enter her, just enough to get her up onto the bed and roll onto her back. Clasping her hands on her stomach, she took a breath and closed her eyes.

"See y' in a few hours lass," she heard Carson say.

She hummed in answer, reaching in her mind towards Kel'an, smiling slightly. _It's been too long, Kel', _she thought.

She felt the familiar mental embrace of her closest friend wrap around her then, more than she had felt for hours now. **_I'm here, I'm awake, _**Kel'an told her. **_I won't leave you alone._**

With that, the memories from the past day drifted in front of Cam's eyes, the woman slowly drifting asleep at the familiar feeling of her friend working through her body.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon had watched with more than a hint of trepidation as Carter lay on one of the beds, her entire body relaxing moments after Beckett had spoken to her. What little tenseness had remained in her body before she'd fallen asleep, left and the woman's body practically sagged in on itself.

Beckett looked at him then, arching an eyebrow. "Alrigh' then laddie," he said. "Let's have another look at y' shoulder."

Arching his own eyebrow at the man, Ronon crossed his arms, well aware of an armed man that had entered the room behind him. Beckett sighed and shook his head, rolling his eyes upwards.

"Ach," he muttered. "Nae another stubborn bugga."

A-A-A-A-A-A

**THREE DAYS LATER**

It had taken her the better part of the day after to keep Martouf from harming Atlantis' latest guest, Specialist Ronon Dex. Her brother, true to over-protective form, had made his way to the infirmary the next morning, fully intent on both checking up on her as well as having a 'word' with Ronon Dex. It had only been through Carson's warning before he reached the infirmary and Cam's quick thinking that stopped her brother from visiting the infirmary proper.

And she had kept it up for the next two days, spending time with her department, relying on Jonas and Danny to take the brunt of the work as she kept an eye on her brother. It had taken a lot of energy and will on her part, but she'd managed it.

Now, with her body no longer screaming for sleep or and her mind no longer spouting out words in Ancient, Cam stood at the DHD in Atlantis' Control Room, dialling in the address that Ronon had given for his homeworld. She glanced up at Chuck, nodding at the MALP in the Gateroom.

"Ready and waiting ma'am," he reported calmly. "Ready to send through when you're ready."

Cam nodded and put in the last of the co-ordinates and lowered the shield as soon as the two Stargates connected. "Send the MALP it through," she ordered him calmly.

As much as she would have preferred to have been working on her Tenoids, Cam felt like she had unfinished business with Ronon Dex and looked at the screen in front of Chuck. She watched as the MALP's video feed showed an image of a ravaged city, buildings crumbling in front of them as Chuck moved the camera on the MALP around before he sighed, shaking his head.

"It doesn't look like anyone's left," he said. "The place is completely ravaged."

Cam sighed and nodded, tapping her radio earpiece sadly. "This is Camilla Carter," she said. "Dr. Weir, Colonel Sheppard, you're going to want to come to the Control Room. I've sent a MALP to the co-ordinates that Specialist Ronon Dex gave us." She sighed again. "It doesn't look good."

She paused and waited. _"I'll go grab him," _John said after a moment. _"No matter what you're seeing, I think the guy deserves to see it."_

Cam sighed and nodded. "You have thirty-eight minutes before the Stargate shuts down," she reminded him before they disconnected.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon stared at the image of the ravaged city that he had once fought to defend seven years ago. The Ring of the Ancestors was open in the room below and the light it reflected shone in his face as he continued to stare at the image.

"I don't understand," he said eventually.

"We have machines called MALPs," Dr. Weir said. "They're capable of transmitting back images and information from other planets.

"I sent one through the address you gave me," Carter said. "And this is what I saw."

"That is Sateda?"

"I'm sorry," Sheppard said. "It doesn't look anyone survived the last attack."

Ronon looked back at the image, having turned his head to look at them. As he felt tears rush to his eyes he bit back a growl.

He could only think of Kell, of his promises to fight promptly before he had turned and run, using all his own people to make his escape. The Wraith had destroyed his home and Kell had played his part in it. None of these people in the Ancestor's city could understand that.

He turned to look at Sheppard, Carter and Dr. Weir once more before he turned and walked out of the room, aware of his armed escort following him.

* * *

_"After all, it's one thing to run away when someone's chasing you. It's entirely another to be running all alone." Jennifer E. Smith, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight_

* * *

That's Runner done and I look forward to reading all your reviews about this chapter and what you might like to see in the next couple. Please keep in mins that there is a Point of Divergence coming up in a few chapters! Since there have been no guest reviews since I posted chapter 15 a couple of weeks ago, I'll keep an eye out for a few!


	18. Chap 17: Duet & Condemned

Disclaimer: I think everyone gets the gist of this now. Outside of my own characters, I own no one and nothing. Admittedly, I'm planning on creating a portal and grabbing John Sheppard and Ronon Dex. Two of the hottest men to ever grace the TV screen!

* * *

**As funny as the episode 'Duet' is, I had real trouble writing in Camilla's place in it. It always seemed forced, unnatural – to me at least – so I've decided to repeat what I've done before with TiA and put 'Duet' and 'Condemned' together in one chapter. I've tried to put a bit more into this chapter, to make it worthwhile reading and I can only hope that I've gotten some people curious.**

**As much as I love Stargate SG-1 – they always managed to explore the deep philosophical questions in such a way that I always loved how they did it, regardless of how they concluded it – but several things happened to the various characters in SG-1 that I, personally, thought would have left lasting impressions on them (for example, Jack's opinion of the Tok'ra and the torture he had to go through at the hands of Ba'al) only lasted a few episodes and mentions afterwards before being forgotten for the most part. I'm not saying that I think they should all be gibbering wrecks, because I think they're better than that, but after everything that they all went through, I would have thought that some things would have changed.**

**It's for that reason that I've tried to write Camilla differently to that. Without blowing any major plot points that I have with Anubis and Cam, the Goa'uld had something done/did it himself that left emotional scars with Camilla and I've tried to write that as well as I can. With everything that the Tok'ra has survived/gone through, she hasn't come out the other end of her teen years unscathed. In short, she's been tortured and gone through more things than the average Joe Bloggs, I think that changes people more than the writers of various television shows can ever fully realise.**

**My apologies for the mini rant, but I needed to get that out so that everyone understands my little arc with Camilla and Kel'an.**

**In chapter or two, I've got a couple of plot ideas that I think could happen for 'Trinity' and I'm wondering what you all think should happen. I would love your ideas on this.**

**There is still a poll going on my page about pairings, so please, go ahead and vote! I'd love to see what you all think.**

* * *

**Chapter 17: Why Does It Seem That People Are Condemned To Repeat The Past As If They Were Singing A Duet With It?**

After close to a week of almost uneventful missions and settling back in to the city, Cam found herself once more buried inside her Tenoid, the base's uniform jacket tossed over a chair at the one desk in the large room. For the first time in a long time, she was on her own – not that she was ever, truly alone with Kel'an in her mind – as she worked on the mech, music playing from one of the laptops she had requested for the lab.

As much as she would have enjoyed taking care of translations, she'd taken the opportunity of her day off to take another look at the mech that had apparently been left for her with the other mechs that were in the other, slightly larger lab that was acting as temporary storage.

Whistling along to one of the tunes playing, Cam walked along the top of the mech, looking at the datapad in her arms as she followed the schematics absently. She'd read on the schematics that there were a pair of power chambers on top of the mech, housing the power source for the large machine and the Tok'ra had been intrigued ever since. Halting as she neared a pair of large metal plates with appropriately sized hinges, the woman paused to remove a leather glove before crouching down and pressing her bare hand to the cool metal.

Directing her thoughts at the power chamber's doors, the woman's main thought was 'open'. **_Are you sure about this? _**Kel'an asked her quietly.

A click and a hiss came from the Tenoid and Cam watched as the two large metal plates opened like a pair of doors lying down and she stood, removing her hand from the metal of the mech as she sought out a better angle to look at the power source.

_We need to understand as much about these as we can, _she answered. _My sanity doesn't need to be intact for this._

The Tok'ra got the sensation that her friend was rolling her eyes then. **_You may not, _**she commented, **_but I most certainly do._**

Shaking her head with a found smile, Cam tapped the schematics an quickly began comparing the information against the real objects in front of her. She felt her eyebrows arching steadily as she read everything there. It looked like whoever had made the Tenoids had had access to crystals as a power source.

They were similar in appearance to an Earth crystal called Kyanite – and they both held the same name according to the schematics – that appeared to be far more important make-up than the cosmetic ones of Earth. The metal mesh that the Tok'ra could see at the bottom was what surprised her, despite her piqued interest from when the Tenoids had arrived in the first place.

With a Naquadria mesh at the bottom of the container, the power generated by the Kyanite crystals would be increased dramatically as it passed through the metal, absorbing the energy potential of the metal. The Tok'ra knew that Naquadria existed on Kelowna, but she'd never heard of any other deposits being discovered elsewhere. Shaking her head, the woman sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

When she heard a chime from the door, Cam jumped before she sighed and nodded. "Come in!" she called as she crouched back down and order the chambers to shut before she moved to the scaffold's stairs to see who had arrived.

Climbing onto the metal stairs, the Tok'ra couldn't help the arched eyebrow at the sight of Ronon Dex and his armed entourage – an entourage that Elizabeth had insisted on following the Satedan until he made his decision on whether he wanted to leave or stay.

"You busy?" the Satedan asked as he stepped inside cautiously.

The Tok'ra smiled gently at him and shook her head. "Just finished," she answered as she moved down the stairs as quickly as she could. "There anything I can help you with?"

The man looked around the room, his gaze barely straying from what he could see without moving his head. Cam smiled slightly, glancing over his shoulder at the two armed soldiers and shook her head at them before she gestured to a few of the more comfortable chairs she had had left in the lab.

"Have a seat," she offered him. "I think I've got some water or something to drink."

The Satedan watched her for a moment before he nodded and Cam walked calmly over to the chairs, investigating her desk for the water that she knew was there. As she looked, she absently switched her music off and shut the laptop.

"How are you finding the City?" she asked him when she finally found the glass jug and walked back over to the man.

"Big."

Cam smiled at that, offering the jug to him. "It is that," she agreed.

**_Just let him be, kid, _**Kel'an whispered in her mind. **_Let him ask what he wants in his own time._**

Knowing that the Satedan hadn't met Kel'an before, Cam struggled not to react. _I know, _she answered. _It's almost like I'm dealing with a closed off version of Teal'c._

Cam waited the man out, not pushing him as he looked around before he seemed to settle. "Teyla told me about your people," he said after a few minutes. "Met your brother earlier."

The Tok'ra smiled at him, nodding. "Ah," she said. "And now you have questions."

She saw a quick, almost reflexive smile before it disappeared. "Why did you decide to fight the Wraith?" he asked. "To stay?"

Startled, Cam leaned back in her chair, taking a breath as she thought over her response. "I can't not fight," she answered him quietly in return. "It would have been one thing if I never knew of the Wraith, if I had never come here, but knowing what everyone here, in this galaxy goes through, each and every generation…" She shook her head, looking away. "It may be part of being a Tok'ra, being unable to leave a 'job' unfinished, but I couldn't leave the City and Pegasus knowing that I could do something to help change what happens here."

Ronon watched her closely for a moment. "Teyla said your people were the best hope for everyone here," he said.

Cam chuckled weakly at that, a small smile drifting on to her face before it faded. "I don't know about us being the 'best hope'," she said, "but we're trying our best to make up for mistakes of the past."

Ronon grunted before he glanced over his shoulder at the guards, gauging distances. "Is Sheppard always so protective of his team?" he asked.

The woman arched an eyebrow at that before she sighed. "When we first arrived here, Teyla was amoung a group that was taken by the Wraith," she told him quietly. "I think, with everything that's happened this past year, he's gotten protective of everyone if there's something he could do to stop it."

A-A-A-A-A-A

It was early morning for Martouf and Lantash, the two of them still worried over how both Dr. McKay and Lieutenant Cadman were holding up after what many in the know described as "two days of McKay hell". While they shared what both Tau'ri were going through – that of another living inside their mind – they could not understand the torture.

After being roped in to one of Dr. Heightmeyer's conversations with the two, Martouf and Lantash had been treated to the perceived one-sided conversation that had left a lot to be desired, especially that of which of over who was technically in control.

_It must be truly terrible if you're not willing to be the host or the symbiote to someone, _Martouf thought as he rubbed at his face tiredly.

**_It is, _**Lantash agreed tiredly. **_I have never forced myself upon any host, not like Cordesh – may the traitor forever burn._**

Martouf sighed, rubbing his face once more as he walked down the corridor to the base's gym. He shared his symbiote's opinion of Cordesh, especially since it had been proven that he and his previous host had been responsible for his brother's slow death. As he neared the closed doors of the gym, Martouf heard the familiar sounds of two people fighting, training inside.

Swinging his arm over the Ancient sensor, Martouf woke up completely as he saw what was happening inside the gym.

His sister and Ronon were fighting like he had never seen his sister fighting before. It seemed that more of Kel'an's previous hosts were rising in Camilla's mind as her fighting stance constantly shifted from defensive, offensive and submissive and dominant. He watched, in awe, as Camilla dropped under a punch the Satedan man was throwing at her before she returned the apparent 'favour'.

She curled slightly in on herself as she delivered a sharp jabbing punch to Ronon's side, mimicking a fighting style that he had seen on Earth. Ronon reacted, sending a punch at her head as she stood up and began to back away from close attacks.

Seeing the punch connect, Martouf felt anger filling his veins. "What, by Egeria, is going on in here?!" he snapped out.

He regretted saying anything as Camilla automatically turned to look at them, a hand pressed to her cheek. The Satedan continued the fight and swung an arm out, catching the female Tok'ra's chest and knocking the air from her lungs moments before Martouf saw the man kick Camilla's feet out from under her, sending her sprawling to the floor, the man's hand pressed to her throat.

"Sparring," Camilla coughed out in answer seconds later, smiling up at Ronon as the man removed his hand from her throat before offering it to her. "That's what we're doing, Marty."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam took Ronon's hand, ignoring her brother for a moment as she let the Satedan pull her to her feet with a surprising amount of strength from him. Her body ached in several spots that she knew hadn't been exercised or fought with since her last sparring match with Teal'c and she relished in the feeling, even as Kel'an automatically began numbing them to something the Tau'ri would most certainly classify as tolerable.

("Do you remember what happened the last time you fought someone as hard as you have now?!") Martouf snapped out, his voice shifting automatically to the more guttural Goa'uld language.

Cam closed her eyes against the memories for a heartbeat, feeling Kel'an brushing the memories aside as much as she could, shaking her head slightly before she opened her eyes and turned to look at her brother, stepping closer to him.

("I do remember,") she snapped back, biting back an angry snarl. ("I am not likely to forget the man that held me as I fought, as I struggled to break free from him. I am not likely to forget the bruises and broken body he left me with. I am also not likely to forget that I know my own limits, that I know when the day is not the one to train on!")

("You barely fought those first three months all for the fact that one man beat you!")

("He tortured me and you know it, _brother_!") Cam shouted at him, feeling her mouth forming the familiar words.

She started as she heard the doors sliding shut and looked around her, Ronon gone, as well as his weapons and armed guard that had stood inside the gym. Sighing as she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, Cam fought the urge to deck her brother.

"_Thank you, _Martouf," she ground out between her gritted teeth. "Thank you so much."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Leaning against the metal railing of the abandoned balcony, Ronon Dex looked out over the Ancestor's City. For centuries, Atlantis had been a legend told to children to give hope that the Ancestors would one day return.

Now, however, while the Ancestors hadn't returned, people from the Ancestor's worlds had and were bringing that hope back alive. Ronon contented himself with looking out over the City, knowing that until he made his decision about staying the guards would remain – even now they stood inside the tower, at the doors leading onto the balcony, giving him a modicum of privacy.

Hearing one of the doors sliding open, Ronon sighed and tensed, years of running had him readying for a fight.

"Might I speak with you, Ronon Dex?" he heard Martouf – Camilla Carter's brother – ask.

The Satedan shrugged a shoulder in answer, still tense as he continued to look out on the City. The conversation the man and his sister had had still intrigued him, but he had easily understood they were talking about him the way the two of them had been arguing.

Martouf walked closer, moving into Ronon's field of vision even as he stayed a few steps away – something that the former-Runner appreciated.

"Though my opinion matters little," the man said, "my reaction to seeing my sister training with you could be seen as excessive." Ronon grunted, not answering or agreeing with the man as he listened. "What few of the expedition here know, is that the last time Camilla trained and sparred so hard against an opponent, years ago, had been months after she survived torture at the hands of one of the Tok'ra's worst enemies."

Ronon turned his head slightly to look at the man, raising an eyebrow as he tilted his head in question. So many years of solitude, running from the Wraith, had left him relying more on his expressions to get his thoughts across and it seemed that the male Tok'ra had lived like that, tilting his head in response.

"Fear ruled her for the first few months after she was rescued," Martouf said in answer, nodding at the question Ronon was asking. "She tried to spar against one of the team members, hoping to gain a modicum of control in the first month or so." The man shook his head. "Instead, Camilla's recovery was set back those weeks." Martouf sighed. "I guess that my reaction is out of worry that the years that have passed will mean nothing if that happens again."

Ronon grunted. He could understand the man's reaction now that he knew some of the woman's past.

Martouf chuckled softly, almost mirthlessly. "I guess, Ronon Dex, that this has been my roundabout fashion of apologising," he said before he nodded once and bowed slightly, pressing a fist to his left shoulder. "I'll leave you alone."

Ronon stood then, pushing his weight from his forearms back to his legs as he turned slightly, watching as Martouf froze slightly. "Where's Doctor Weir's office?" he asked.

He'd finally come to a decision about Sheppard's offer and he intended on fulfilling his promise to the head of the city.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Dressed in somewhat casual clothes of jeans and red shirt, Cam glanced at Specialist Ronon Dex sat in the co-pilot's seat as she calmly directed the Puddle Jumper towards the Mainland, keeping her mind mostly focused on the landmass. As much as she loved the Puddle Jumpers, the entirety of the pilot-controlled systems were heavily reliant on the control and focus of said pilot and Cam had quickly grown used to the duality her mind needed to pilot one effectively.

Days had passed after Martouf had told her of Ronon Dex's decision to remain with the expedition and the female Tok'ra had grown increasingly aware of the edginess that had taken over the Satedan. She had quickly recognised it, remembering the months she had been unable to leave the SGC as her back recovered slowly and painfully until she had gone off world in a desperate hope to save Teal'c's wife.

Shaking her head slightly, pushing the thoughts away from the fore of her mind, Cam could also remember the time it had painstakingly taken to persuade both John and Elizabeth into allowing a trip to the Mainland with Ronon on board.

**_I honestly think it was the inclusion of Danny, Teyla and Jonas that eventually made the decision for them, _**Kel'an commented quietly.

Cam allowed herself a small smile. She had thought the same and she could feel the mild amusement from Teyla as well as excitement from Jonas and Danny. The Jumper's couldn't give accurate, private, information on emotional states of people, but the heart rates and other lifesigns it could sense were enough to give the woman a rough idea of the emotions of the crew on the Jumper. Biting her lip, she sensed more than a little apprehension from the man seated beside her, the constant shifting clue enough for her.

"How much further must we travel?" Teyla asked, breaking the 'comfortable' silence in the Jumper.

Cam hummed as she brought the information up, feeling the H.U.D. moving into view as she allowed the auto-pilot to take control. Relaxing her grip on the controls, Cam turned her attention to the Ancient written on the H.U.D. and tilted her head, quickly translating it.

"Five more minutes," she answered. "We're travelling quite fast."

"What's on the 'Mainland'?" the Tok'ra heard Ronon ask.

Turning her attention to Teyla, she saw the female Athosian smile. "My people," she answered. "The island is uninhabited save for them and the wildlife that lives there." Cam watched as the Athosian looked into the back of the Jumper where Jonas stood, holding onto the netting above the seats as he looked at the carefully packed and placed pile in the middle of the available floor space. "Though there will shortly be more supplies and tools for my people to use."

Cam smiled at that. "And people as well," she added. "Last I knew, Halling had asked for help in moving some of the larger trees that fell a few weeks ago."

Teyla nodded at that, even as the Mainland started to come into view behind the H.U.D., something that Cam quickly dismissed. "From what he reported to me, several trees that survived the storm were not as safe as we originally thought."

The Tok'ra nodded, accepting the information she hadn't heard. "It's why I brought a couple of chainsaws," she said as they finally flew over the sandy beach and headed further inland towards the camp that Cam had been to before. "Jonas and I have used them before, so we can chop the trees into more manageable sizes before we think of moving them."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon knew that he had nothing to worry about on the Mainland with Teyla's people, but days of being 'locked up' in the Ancestral City had left him on edge, looking for the first place to run and burn the energy that thrummed through his veins. Without the need to run from the Wraith that had been tracking him, the energy and time he spent on just surviving didn't have the outlet he was used to and it was uncomfortable. He couldn't sleep easily, too much energy left in his body to let him sleep.

He was surprised, seconds later, when Carter calmly stepped out of the small ship with him and the others. Moments later he'd automatically reached for a weapon that wasn't there as a brown blur of movement barrelled into Carter with a cry of the woman's name as she was suddenly sprawled on her back, the blur solidifying into the shape of brown haired boy.

The woman laughed for a few moments before Ronon heard the rasping breathing and he'd looked down at Carter, seeing the mild panic in her eyes as the blur solidified into the shape of a boy.

"Jinto!"

Ronon glanced up to look at the source of the noise and saw a man, his dark hair long and lanky, his beard in a similar state and the Satedan watched as the boy raced to stand, moving back from Carter. Reacting instinctually, he bent down and lifted the woman to her feet, holding her shoulders loosely as she firmly grasped her throat, her hand moving side to side for a few seconds.

It was only when she nodded that he let go of her and watched as a smile drifted across her face and it was then that Ronon heard what the man was saying to the boy he was now crouched down in front of.

"-at have I told you, Jinto, about doing that?" the man was asking. "You should be thankful that Camilla Carter was not hurt."

Ronon glanced to the woman beside him, seeing the small smile still there, even as he noticed the mildly confused expressions on the two off-worlders he didn't know. Teyla was smiling as well, hers just as knowing as Carter's.

Carter moved forwards with a smile and Ronon noticed that the man and boy were touching foreheads, their eyes closed. He watched as Carter crouched down and gently grasped the shoulder of the man, waiting until he'd pulled his forehead from the boy's before they calmly pressed their foreheads together.

It was then that Ronon guessed that it was some form of greeting as the boy, Jinto, seemed to smile as Carter quickly did the same to him, a mirror of his smile on her face. "I'm glad to see that you missed me, Jinto," the woman teased moments after she'd pulled her head back.

The boy's smile grew and Ronon watched as he moved to embrace her again, this time moving more slowly and carefully. He didn't hear the boy's reply into her neck as Carter returned it easily. The Satedan looked to the other man as he stood and walked towards them, Teyla moving to intercept him and greet him as the man had just seen Carter do.

The male off-worlder moved into view on Ronon's right side and he saw an eager grin splitting his face. "Well," he said. "This is going to be an interesting experience."

The other woman snorted as she appeared at the man's right, her hands in her hair as she pulled it into a bun at the top of her head. "Ain't it just," she said. "We're going to be busy today, Jonas, m'boy."

A-A-A-A-A-A

True to the anthropologist's word, they had been, all of them in various jobs around the Athosian camp. Having decided to stay the night, Cam had been surprised when Ronon disappeared from the camp until a few hours before the evening meal when he returned with a few large deer-like creatures in tow.

The Athosians had eaten well that night after the animals had been taken care of, the skin removed from the meat that they cooked. The Tok'ra had silently been pleased at that turn of event; if Halling and the other Athosians welcomed the help from the Satedan man, then there would be few problems presented by them later on. It meant that the man had an outlet on the planet and the Tok'ra was pleased at that.

Sitting around a large fire a few hours after sun down, Cam was next to the leader of the Athosians, holding a ceramic bowl of soup in between her hands. The Tok'ra soaked in the soothing warmth as she looked around the camp. It appeared that Danny had managed to make a couple of friends amoung the Athosians from the number of children and people the constantly stopped by the woman on their way to get more food from the cauldron hanging over the fire. From what little she had learned through the day, the woman had asked questions about the right people in the camp.

Sharing a look with the leader of the Athosians, the Tok'ra smiled, holding the ceramic bowl of stew in her hands. "Looks like everyone's settled in," she commented quietly.

The female Athosian smiled in response and nodded, both of them looking at their friends, sitting around the large fire as they spoke quietly with the other Athosians. Danny and Jonas were sat with Halling and Jinto, all four talking quietly amongst themselves.

"It is good to see that your friends have made the effort to become friends with my people," Teyla agreed. "Dr. Witcker especially seems to have made an effort."

Cam chuckled at that, pausing to take a sip of the tasty broth. "She's what our people call an anthropologist," she told her. "They study different cultures and try to understand them." She shrugged a shoulder. "Danny impressed me with her ability to pick up on the existence of alien life and technology when others in her field scoffed at the idea."

Teyla smiled at that, nodding as she used her spoon to pick out a small morsel of meat. "It is good to have those with open minds as friends and colleges," she said before eating the small piece of meat. "Colonel Sheppard has a mission for us later tomorrow."

Cam nodded as she looked into the fire. "I know," she said. "It'll be Ronon Dex's first with the expedition?"

The Athosian hummed. "It will be interesting," she said quietly. "Dr. McKay is better from his encounter with the Wraith Dart and is requesting a mission."

Cam rolled her eyes as she drained the last of the broth from her bowl. "That man," she muttered. "I'll never understand what runs through his mind."

Teyla chuckled. "It may have something to do with the information he located in the Ancient Database," she responded.

Cam rolled her eyes again, snorting rather indelicately as she stood up, making to help herself to more of the soup. "There is no understanding Rodney McKay," she reiterated.

As she looked towards the large metal cauldron hanging over the fire, the female host was surprised to see Ronon Dex watching her, his gaze tracking her calmly.

A-A-A-A-A-A

**THIRTEEN HOURS LATER, ATLANTIS CONTROL ROOM**

As Earth's technically only remaining Tok'ra ambassador for both the expedition and Earth, Cam sighed as she stood in the Control Room, looking at the active Stargate as SGA-1, John's team, reported in from the planet they had been sent to.

Currently listening to the various virtues the mineral the surprisingly advanced people had discovered was certainly in the top ten most boring conversations the woman had been a part of.

**_Certainly the top five, _**Kel'an muttered and Cam shook her head with a fond smile.

"And you believe they might be willing to share some of this mineral?" Elizabeth asked.

_"Well, they seem open to it," _John answered. _"They don't get many trading opportunities coming through the Gate."_

Elizabeth hummed. "Sounds promising," she commented.

Cam stood up straighter as she thought over the man's words. "What exactly do you mean about the lack of opportunities, Colonel?" she asked.

_"That's where we learned of a minor, moral hiccup of their form of capital punishment," _the man answered.

Cam shared a look with Elizabeth, both of them frowning. "I'm sorry?" the elder of the two asked.

_"They have an island," _Rodney said. _"It's their own version of Alcatraz where they send their worst criminals."_

_"And the Gate is on the island," _John continued. _"So…"_

Cam sighed. "The Wraith feed on the prisoners there," she finished.

_"Yep," _John said.

Elizabeth shook her head with a wince. "Talk about cruel and unusual punishment," she said.

_"I prefer lethal injection, although I do have a certain fondness for the electric chair," _Rodney commented absently. _"Call me romantic."_

Cam rolled her eyes at that, shaking her head slightly at the man's opinion. _"The Wraith get what they want, the Olesians get left alone," _Ronon commented. _"Surprised it works."_

_"He did, however, say that only the most violent criminals get sent there," _John injected, _"and that it has been this way for hundreds of years."_

_"Do you kill all of your violent criminals on Earth?" _Teyla asked.

"Certain countries, yes," Cam answered. "Depends on the crime, the actual cause of the crime and the country the crime was committed in."

_"Do we need to get into this right now?" _John asked, interrupting the Tok'ra with a sigh.

Elizabeth sighed. "Well, we do if we plan on doing business with these people," she said. "I want to know more before I jump to any conclusions."

_"If it makes understanding any easier, Dr. Weir," _Martouf added calmly, _"when we attempted to make contact with the people on the island, they were extremely hostile towards us. The Olesians have made the recommendation that no one try and land on the island."_

A-A-A-A-A-A

Racing from the city's infirmary at the sound of the Stargate klaxons going off, Cam ignored the blood that oozed slowly from the crook of her elbow, running up the stairs at the back of the Control Room to enter, looking at the shielded Gate. She resolutely ignored Carson's muted calls for her to return for the rest of her monthly check up.

"What happened?!" she asked the technician as the Gate shut down, the man frowning, even as the female Tok'ra heard the sound of Elizabeth's hurried footsteps making their way towards her.

"The Stargate dialled in," the technician said. "But we didn't receive an IDC."

Cam nodded slowly at that. "What planet dialled Atlantis?" she asked.

The technician took a moment to look before he nodded at something he was reading on one of the displays. "The Olesians," he answered.

"Dial the planet and try to establish a radio link with Colonel Sheppard," Elizabeth ordered.

"Yes ma'am."

Standing back, allowing the Control Room technician to do his job, Cam listened as Elizabeth ordered Major Lorne to get a Jumper ready. As the radio conversation ended, Cam made to offer to fly the Jumper, but saw the woman shake her head in answer.

"I need you to stay in the City," Elizabeth said, cutting her off. "I need you to take care of running the city while I try to find out what's going on with the Olesians."

Sighing as she ran a hand through her hair, Cam nodded. She felt conflicted, not going to the planet to help search for the others, for her brother, but she understood Elizabeth's need for her to remain.

"Fine," she said. "I'll stay." The Tok'ra gave the woman a terse look. "But I most certainly don't like it."

Elizabeth smiled weakly and nodded in return. "Until I leave, let me know if we manage to make contact."

Cam gave the woman a mock salute and a weak smile. "Yes ma'am," she said.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Staying in the Control Room for the few hours that Elizabeth was gone and SGA-1 missing frayed Cam's nerves, even as she took up temporary residence in Elizabeth's office to get her translations done while she waited.

She also fielded what few departmental requests came through, hoping to keep the various department heads happy for the time that Elizabeth was gone. Looking up from a translation as she heard footsteps, Cam bit back a groan as she heard Zelenka walking across the walkway towards her.

"Still no word?" the Czech asked.

Cam shook her head in answer. "I can understand Sheppard not checking in," she said. "We can't be sure the Olesians had something to do with Colonel Sheppard's team not coming through, but I'm still worried that we haven't received word from Colonel Sheppard himself or even Elizabeth." She shook her head again. "They should have contacted us if they're there freely."

The Czech scientist nodded. "How are you doing as head of city?" he asked, changing the topic for the woman.

Cam rolled her eyes in answer. "I much prefer running Translations than I do the city," she told him seconds before the Ancient klaxons in the Gate Room sounded.

The Tok'ra stood from her chair and raced into the Control Room, Zelenka hot on her heels. "What's going on?" she asked.

"We've got an inbound traveller," a technician reported.

Cam nodded. "Activate the shield," she ordered.

She heard the humming of the Ancient shield covering the Stargate as she turned and watched as she Gate activated, the blue of the event horizon stabilising.

"Receiving Dr. Weir's IDC," another technician called out.

Cam nodded again as she moved quickly to the stairs. "Lower the shield," she ordered. "Now!"

Moments after the shield dropped, Cam watched in awe as John came flying through the Gate first, followed quickly by Teyla, Rodney, Ronon, Martouf and an unknown man, all of them bloody and bruised as the City shook from an impact on the other side of the Gate.

"Raise the shield!" John hollered as he got to his feet.

Cam moved quickly to help the others, anchoring her feet as she pulled both Teyla and Rodney to theirs. "What happened?!" she asked them.

John winced, even as Cam took in the injuries of the others. All of them had various scrapes and cuts while it seemed Ronon had an injury to his leg if the way he was standing and leaning slightly against Martouf was indication.

"Got shot down by the prisoners on the island," John answered.

Arching an eyebrow, the female Tok'ra nodded to the unknown man. "It seems like one joined you, Colonel," she said.

He shrugged at that. "Gave him a ticket here," he said. "Guy was innocent of the charges of murder."

Closing her eyes and shaking her head slightly at that, the woman not sure whether to laugh or cry. "Go, see Carson," she said. "Goodness knows Elizabeth will have my head if I don't send you there."

John nodded, chuckling softly. "Alright, I get it," he said. "We're going, we're going!"

Watching as the man led the way out of the Gate Room, Cam lifted her hand to her left ear and pressed it. It took a moment for her to hear the radio earpiece buzz to life.

"Carson," she said. "I've got Colonel Sheppard's team coming to you. A few walking wounded."

_"Agh, lass," _the man muttered. _"Ah was hopin' the man could go on a mission and nae get injured."_

The woman snorted. "You owe me fifty bucks," she told the Scottish doctor.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam moved to the Jumper Bay an hour later, watching as Lorne piloted the Jumper through the open floor before parking the Jumper back in its bay. Moving to greet the returning group, Cam held her hands out at her sides, smiling slightly at Elizabeth.

"I return the City to you," she said. "Safe, sound and whole."

Elizabeth smiled softly at that. "How is Colonel Sheppard's team?" she asked.

The Tok'ra shrugged a shoulder. "About as well as can be expected after being held captive by an island of prisoners," she answered. "Though they all have remarkably few injuries to show for their time on the island."

Elizabeth shook her head at that, chuckling under her breath. "Trust Colonel Sheppard to not only get captured, but do so in such a way as to get the least injuries," she muttered. "Sounds a lot like SG-1 missions on Earth."

Cam rolled her eyes, even as Lorne chuckled. "Not nice, Elizabeth," she muttered. "Really not nice."

"But it is apt ma'am," Lorne put in. "From the reports that I read, General O'Neill's team got into more trouble on missions than the rest of us put together."

The Tok'ra rolled her eyes again, shaking her head slightly. "Everyone is ganging up on me," she muttered. "Now, if you don't mind, Elizabeth, I've got a couple of translations to get to work on."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon tried his hardest not to limp as he walked the western pier of the Ancestral City. He knew the arrow injury to his lower leg would heal over quickly enough and he was disregarding the majority of what Doctor Beckett had told him – he had been a Runner for seven years and had run with worse injuries and had survived to tell the tale as well as remember what he could and could not do.

That was the sole reason he wasn't running the pier in search of Camilla Carter. He'd spoken briefly with Martouf and had taken the information on how to find the woman. He'd already looked in what he had been told was her private office and had decided to follow through on the second piece of information given.

As he rounded one building on the pier, he paused as he saw the woman he had been looking for, surprised by her sudden state of dress. Folded carefully to her right was the dark red shirt he had seen her wearing when he and the rest of Sheppard's team had returned.

Carter sat cross legged on the floor, her back to him as she looked at something that had her right arm moving slowly and methodically. With the woman's shirt off to one side, the entirety of her back was on display, revealing a tattoo that Ronon had guessed was there – but perhaps not to the same extent as he'd originally imagined.

The beginning of the tattoo he had seen around her right forearm wrapped lazily around her arm, heading up towards her shoulder, other branches of the same tattoo merging to form one long, piece that stopped at the top of the woman's shoulder. While it seemed the entire tattoo on her back – and consequently her arm – appeared to be in pieces, Ronon could easily see a single image formed across the smooth flesh, interrupted by several pieces of cloth.

The Satedan found his gaze tracking the various pieces of the tattoo until he frowned, seeing several pieces of flesh looking suspiciously like scars underneath several parts of the tattoo, the ink of the image covering the wavering edges of the scar with crisp, clear lines.

The sheer size of the tattoo kept his gaze on the tattoo on her back before he glanced to her left arm and looked at the other tattoo. This tattoo was done in the same style as the other, larger tattoo, and wrapped around the woman's upper arm, the size of the tattoo seeming to be the same width as a hand and Ronon found himself unconsciously taking a foot forwards, flinching slightly when the female Tok'ra in front of him jumper violently and looked sharply over her shoulder at him.

Fear was clear on her face for a few seconds before she relaxed and nodded politely. "Tek'ma'te, Ronon," she said and he watched as she quickly turned away from him, placing something down as she reached for her shirt, quickly slipping it on. "I didn't know you would be walking this way."

Ronon walked closer to her as she stood quickly, folding and slipping what she had been working on into various pockets in her clothing as she turned to look at him, crossing her arms unconsciously, uncomfortably, self-consciously across her chest. She nodded politely at him, giving him a small smile.

"Wanted to talk," Ronon told her. "Your brother spoke with me a few days ago."

He tensed when he saw her do the same before she looked away, biting her lip before she stepped back and moved a few paces away. "He told you about the last time I fought and why he was worried," he heard her state. "Martouf didn't tell you what we were shouting, did he?"

He saw her turn to look at him, her arms still crossed and Ronon shook his head in answer. "Not a word," he responded.

The woman nodded, humming as she looked away again. "I sometimes forget how Martouf and I sound when we argue," she said, "when we slip into Goa'uld. We often sound far harsher than we really are with each other." Ronon took a few steps closer to the woman as she shook her head almost absently. "Martouf is my elder by a century, and he takes the mantel of elder brother seriously. The words we spoke in the gym were aimed at each other over his 'concern'."

Ronon grunted as he moved to stand beside the woman, letting her see him as her gaze focused forwards. "He told me why he was concerned," he said. "Didn't tell me much of what caused it."

He watched as her body posture relaxed drastically, her shoulders drooping slightly and her crossed arms loosened slightly. "Good," she said quietly. "What happened was in the past, and it is in the past that I wish it to remain."

Ronon grunted as he turned his gaze to look out on the ocean surrounding the Ancestral City, feeling somewhat at peace, despite the desire to run, to get away. He understood the woman's opinion and respected her for it, feeling more at peace now, feeling the urge to run ebb slightly.

It wouldn't last, he knew, but at least now he had somewhere to come back to and, while not call it home, be comfortable in the company of the people there.

* * *

_"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás (George Santayana)_

_"Do not brood over your past mistakes and failures as this will only fill your mind with grief, regret and depression. Do not repeat them in future." Swami Sivananda_

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That's 'Duet' and 'Condemned' done. Please read and review and let me know what you call think. I love to read your reviews and opinions. They all mean so much to me.


	19. Chap 18: Trinity

Disclaimer: I think everyone gets the gist of this now. Outside of my own characters, I own no one and nothing. Admittedly, I'm planning on creating a portal and grabbing John Sheppard and Ronon Dex. Two of the hottest men to ever grace the TV screen!

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**I'm so sorry that it's taken so long to update, but I've been busy, both with work and stuff in my personal life. Things haven't been going my way lately and I've not had much of a chance to get onto fanfic for a while. I'd like to thank HayNSW2711 for pointing out the fact that I'd gotten Lorne's rank wrong. I've gone and changed that and I can only apologise if people got multiple reminders for this story.**

**Anyway, I've written Trinity and, while I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, I've decided to post it anyway and hear what everyone has to say about it.**

* * *

**Chapter 18: A Trinity Of Power, Revenge And Trust. Certainly Not Something You Want To See All In One Room.**

Cam nodded to the large computer screen in the Conference Room, once again thankful that Rodney had managed early on in the expedition to get one set up. It made giving meetings like the one she was giving much easier. Tapping the screen of her datapad, she flicked the information in the general direction of the screen, watching as the information appeared there.

John and the rest of his team were sat at the various tables in the room while Ronon Dex stood leaning against one of the walls, his arms crossed as he constantly looked around the room. Knowing how aware the man was of his surroundings, Cam knew it would take the man time to get comfortable in the Ancient city. More than the expedition had taken if the woman was correct in her thinking.

"I've spent the last few days going over six or seven planets in the Ancient database," Cam said, looking at them calmly before she looked back at the information. "And I came across a note about a planet belonging to the Dorandans." She quickly read the information there, relaxing at what she saw. "Now, from what I remember about the Ancients, they never made comments about other races or planets unless there was something that they could actually do there, but there's a distinct lack of mention of anything that makes the Dorandans worth their time."

Rodney frowned as he read the Ancient. "So you're saying that there's something there," he said.

Cam shrugged a shoulder. "The Ancients buried whatever the Dorandans have or had that made them noteworthy," she told him. "There could be something there or not. I don't know."

Elizabeth looked at the screen then at John. "You feel like a mission, Colonel?" she asked.

Kel'an sighed as Cam looked at the man. **_The woman doesn't need to ask, _**the symbiote said softly. **_The smile on his face is enough of an answer._**

The man was indeed smiling, much like Daniel did when someone mentioned an archaeological mission or a previously unknown Ancient planet. _Even I want to go along, Kel', _Cam said softly. _I want to know why the Ancients haven't said anything beyond the resources that the Dorandans have._

Cam heard her friend sigh tiredly in her mind, almost like she was giving up any hope of argument being held properly. "As long as Carson says we're fit, then I wouldn't mind," he said.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon Dex watched as Carter sat beside her brother in the small space craft he'd seen that first time upon meeting the rest of Atlantis. If he remembered correctly, it was called a 'Puddle Jumper'. While it wasn't his first time in the ship, he was still cautious about being inside one.

The Satedan had been surprised to hear that the woman would be joining them and was even more surprised by the rectangular device she had in a fabric case. He hadn't seen McKay or Teyla carrying one before.

McKay's annoying voice ground through his absent thoughts. "I'm just saying as a team veteran to the new guy; heavy lunch before mission departure – bad idea," he said firmly. "I mean, even with the inertial dampeners, this whole flying thing is best done on an empty stomach."

Ronon rolled his eyes at that – the man was talking as if it were his first time through the Ancestral Ring. "Yeah, well, I've got a pretty strong stomach," he told McKay.

All the times he had been in the middle of a small meal and promptly interrupted by the Wraith had hardened him quickly in the first few months. "Hey, I can eat frozen dinner without thawing them," the scientist continued.

"Rodney," Carter spoke up. "Do yourself a favour – from someone who's travelled through the Gate a lot more than you – shut up."

Ronon turned to look at the woman, giving her a small smirk in thanks, even as Sheppard called for the doctor's attention. "Are you reading anything?"

McKay turned his own seat to look at one of the consoles before he shook his head. "Nothing," he answered. "Life signs from the planet are negative."

Ronon sniffed. From what Carter had translated from the Ancestors, the people would have been good for the Earth expedition to know.

"Then it is a shame," Teyla commented. "From what we read in the Atlantis database, the Dorandans were a wonderful race of people."

"Sad to say, the database is ten thousand years out of date," Carter spoke up.

"You can bet things have changed in ten thousand years," McKay agreed. "Especially since the Ancients left."

Ronon frowned for a moment at the sight of debris floating in the space above the planet and he stood, moving to get a better perspective on what he could see to try and identify.

"Sheppard," he said, nodding at the debris.

Broken parts of various ships floated in front of them and Ronon heard Carter and her brother moving to get a look, standing next to him.

"Okay," Sheppard muttered. "That's not something you see every day."

Teyla nodded in front of Ronon. "There was a great battle here," she agreed.

Ronon felt his eyes widen slightly as they flew closer and practically between the broken remains, recognising the parts easily.

"Is that a Hive ship?!" the 'Tok'ra' asked, astonishment clear in the tone of her voice.

"That _was _a Hive ship," Ronon corrected her.

The fact that they weren't moving or attacking was certainly a clear indication that the Wraith on the ships were dead.

"Something put a lot of holes in it, alright," Sheppard agreed. "We should check it out."

"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa," McKay said. "What if whatever put the holes in it wants to put holes in us?"

Sheppard smirked slightly. "Well, you just said it yourself," the man said softly, "a lot's changed in ten thousand years."

Carter sighed from beside Ronon and he watched as she moved closer to the front, even as Sheppard piloted the ship down towards the planet. It took a few minutes and Ronon sat down in his seat in the Puddle Jumper, watching as the clouds flew past the ship before it broke through.

The sight of a ruined city and planet – while not a surprise – certainly saddened him. The Wraith had attacked and won despite whatever had destroyed several Hives.

"That would explain the lack of life signs," McKay muttered sadly, even as Ronon watched him turning his seat back to the console.

He couldn't help but grunt at the sight of the City. "This is what usually happens when you fight back," he said.

Sateda would forever haunt him, as would all the other planets he'd seen while a Runner. All the destroyed cities and planets haunted him, mocked him for what his people hadn't been able to do when they had tried to fight back.

"These folks took out a fleet of Wraith ships," Sheppard said. "I'd say they did a pretty good job of fighting back."

McKay hummed. "Hold on," he said. "I'm picking up faint energy readings coming from…" Ronon watched as the scientist turned in his seat after a moment and glanced out of the front of the ship before he nodded and stood up, moving closer to Sheppard and pointing to one building. "There."

Sheppard changed the path of the ship and Carter hummed after a moment. "That certainly explains how they fought back so well," she said.

Ronon frowned and stood, moving to look at the building McKay had pointed out. "How?" Sheppard asked.

"Unless the Ancient Knowledge is either too old, or the architectural information is wrong, then the building ahead was built by the Ancients," the woman said. "And the knowledge has yet to fail me on information like this."

Ronon looked at the building as Sheppard quickly got closer. A weapon was on top of the building, looking far more advanced than he had thought technology could get. It looked far more advanced that anything he had seen so far in the City and he was surprised at the sight of the building.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam descended after her brother into the lab inside the building. After having climbed around inside the now destroyed Ancient satellite, climbing down the Ancient metal ladder was easy with her datapad thrown over one shoulder in it's protective case. Being careful of how she moved, she leapt the last two feet of the ladder, crouching slightly as she remembered that her Staff Weapon was strapped across her back.

As she moved away from the ladder, Cam vaguely heard Ronon descending last, even as she rubbed her hands together and moved to the closest console to look at the dust covered crystals.

"Definitely Ancient design," Rodney commented. "Their latest stuff too."

Cam pulled back slightly when the man blew onto the console and lifted a large cloud of dust. "Their latest being close to ten thousand years old," she coughed out, using one hand to fan her face, doing her best to move the floating dust away. "At least it's more advanced than the stuff we found in the Milky Way."

"Looks a lot like the labs we found on Atlantis," John agreed.

The sound of booted feet touching the floor was enough to let Cam know that Ronon had touched down on the floor as she pulled out her torch and shone it's light onto the console.

"So this is one of their outposts," the Satedan commented.

"Yet the Ancestors made no mention of their presence here in the database," Teyla said. "Why?"

"Well," John said. "Let's find out. Can either of you power it up?"

After having spent years working alongside Daniel, Cam drew out a soft paintbrush as Rodney moved to another console, leaving her to clean the crystals of dust before she started the task of translating the available text.

"Working on it," the Canadian answered.

Cam peered at the words and letters revealed, her mind focused on the task at hand. **_Have you given though to Teyla's offer?_** Kel'an asked her.

Closing her eyes for a moment before sighing and peering closer at the crystals, Cam shook her head slightly, half of her mind working through the Ancient in front of her. _I might, _she answered. _But right now, I'm more focused on trying to figure out the Ancient lab._

Kel'an chuckled in her mind, even as they both heard footsteps moving away. **_You need to try and be more diplomatic, kid, _**she said. **_Going to Belkan would certainly make sure you don't forget entirely how to be a diplomat._**

"I got two bodies here!" John called out.

"I got three more over here," Ronon called back. "Whatever happened here, no-one came back to claim the dead."

The female Tok'ra closed her eyes for a moment before she shook her head and returned her attention to the console in front of her. "I can't tell if they were fed on by the Wraith," John muttered.

Ronon grunted. "Yeah, well something killed them," he said.

Sighing as she realised that the controls she was looking at was for powering something inside the outpost, but not the outpost itself, Cam stood up, stretching her back as she reached over her shoulder to remove her Staff Weapon. "It would not surprise me if the something that killed the people here killed everyone on this world," she said as she leaned it against the console.

"Now why is this outpost," John said as he stood, "if that's what it is, still intact? It doesn't make any sense." Cam watched as he shook his head. "What do you think, Rodney?"

The lights came on then and Cam saw Rodney's body straighten then. "Ha!" He tore his gaze from the console as he shook his head. "Sorry, I wasn't listening, but it just struck me that, if this is an Ancient outpost, why would the Wraith leave it intact?"

Cam looked at her brother and the others, watching as Teyla and Ronon turned to look at John, both of them arching an eyebrow at the Air Force pilot. "Good question, Rodney," Cam said, trying to keep Kel'an's sarcastic tone out of her voice.

A-A-A-A-A-A

**SEVERAL HOURS LATER**

With John and Rodney sent back to the planet, Cam sighed as she fastened the last of the intricate Athosian fastenings that went over the tight vest Teyla had sent for her to wear. A jacket was draped over her right arm and the small bag that the leader of the Athosians had given her was slung over her left shoulder.

**_Now, what's the back story? _**Kel'an asked her.

Rolling her eyes as she walked towards the nearest transporter, Cam shook her head. _Teyla's got several, pressings matters to attend to – all of which demand her immediate attention, _she recited calmly. _Because of so many matters, she's sent me, a loyal Athosian of high standing to barter in her stead. My words are to be as if she herself spoke them._

**_And if anyone asks why you look different?_**

Cam rolled her eyes again at her friend's persistence as she neared the transporter. _My homeworld was attacked by the Wraith years ago and the Athosians took me and a few of my people in, allowing us to become a part of their people. We've taken on their culture as our own. _She stopped outside the transporter and smirked slightly. _Happy now, Kel'?_

Kel'an sighed in her mind as the woman swung her hand over the crystals sensors and stepped inside the transporter.

**_Not nearly, _**she responded. **_But you'll do for now._**

Chuckling at that, Cam pressed the screen for the transport closest to the top of the tower and felt the familiar shifting. As the doors slid open, letting her off, the Tok'ra was surprised to see Ronon standing nearby.

"Camilla," he said. "Uh…Teyla said you were heading offworld on a mission for her."

Cam nodded as she started walking, the large Satedan easily falling into step beside her. "To the planet Belkan, yes," she answered.

"Sounds interesting."

The Tok'ra arched an eyebrow at the man, a small smile on her face. If Teyla had truly told the man what she was doing, then he certainly wouldn't call a diplomatic meeting 'interesting'. The man smirked back at her in answer.

"The Belkans, as I understand, have a particular strain of flax seed that's disease resistant," she told him. "It would double the yield of Athosian crops on the mainland and give Atlantis a bit more for the harvest this year." She continued to walk through the corridor, twisting her body slightly to avoid touching anyone else. "In exchange, I've been told to offer Athosian manpower to help when the time for harvesting comes." Cam gave the man an arch look. "Are you still interested on going on a diplomatic mission?"

Ronon grunted. "Uh… this place has everything I want, don't get me wrong," he said. "But…"

Cam hummed and nodded. "You feel like you need to go somewhere else," she finished.

He chuckled beside her. "_Anywhere _else," he agreed.

The Tok'ra hummed. "I know the feeling," she told him. "At least I had the task of keeping up appearances outside the base on Earth."

"So?" Ronon asked her.

Cam took a breath and paused, thinking. **_I'll explain the situation to Teyla, _**Kel'an told her. **_She'll take it better – if she didn't want to him to go along – from me than you._**

Nodding, the woman turned to look at the Satedan beside her – the man having stopped when she did. He wore a slightly worried expression on his face and Cam didn't have the heart to tease him with her response.

"Bring only weapons you can conceal," she told him before she started walking again.

She heard Ronon chuckle somewhere behind her. "I'll keep it to a bare minimum," he said.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon sat, tense, beside Camilla Carter, watching as the woman masked irritation quicker than he knew the other man would ever see. He leaned back in his seat slightly, his right hand still up his left sleeve where he absently finger the knife strapped to his forearm – one of the many weapons he'd concealed at her request.

"The man power you are demanding, Hendon, is outrageous," Carter said after a moment, her body forcibly relaxing – something that he knew that no one else would recognise, not even Hendon. "You would turn the Athosians into nothing more than indentured slaves serving on your farms."

The grey haired man opposite them shook his head. "It would seem that you have nothing else of value to trade but your people," he said as another man walked over.

Ronon watched as the man held a tray out to the woman beside him, offering a wooden mug of ale, something that Ronon took and held with his free hand. He glanced at the woman beside him for a moment, taking in the tense set to her body, the muscles of her arms tense for a few seconds before she seemed to relax again as she looked to the barkeep.

"Mattas," the Tok'ra said. "You know that what I am offering is fair."

The man shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said. "If you had something of more value to offer – technology, weapons." The man stopped and shrugged a shoulder apologetically.

Carter sighed and looked back at Hendon with a soft smile. "You've heard my terms," she said calmly. "That is where I stand."

Ronon took a breath. Diplomacy wasn't his strong suit – in fact it wasn't on his list of abilities – but these men seemed to be purposefully trying to take advantage of Carter. His Satedan heritage started to burn through him, no one had ever let a woman be taken advantage of, rather he'd been taught alongside his childhood friends to protect and treat women as equals. It didn't matter that Carter was from a society where women were equals or more, Satedan habits were hard to break, especially those about protecting women.

So, letting her take the lead and the men take advantage of her went against everything he had been taught as a boy by his father and grandfather.

Hendon hummed. "Then our business is done here," he said.

Ronon ground his teeth and reacted as the man started to rise from his seat. With years of Running, he wrapped his hand around the hilt of his blade and drew it out from the sheath in his sleeve, slamming it down on the table between them as he stood, leaning into Hendon's space.

"She said her offer is fair," he snarled.

Hendon stood up and Ronon sat back in his chair, crossing his arms absently, comfortably. "I say it isn't," the trader told him.

Ronon stood, smiling slightly at the man much in the manner he had smiled at the Wraith that had followed him over the years. As he stood to his full height, Ronon let the man understand that his superior height would work in his advantage and against the trader in front of him. He let the fact sink in to the man's uneducated brain.

"Well," he said. "I say it is."

He was vaguely aware of Carter's hand on his arm, the leather of his coat muffling her touch as Hendon turned his gaze back to the woman.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Carrying one of the sacks over her shoulder Kel'an felt her host's body vibrating with barely restrained anger. As much as the two of them were not entirely used to the subtle intricacies of Pegasus galaxy's politics – much more used to those of the Milky Way – Ronon jumping in like he had had not helped matters.

Both Camilla and Kel'an were starting to regret bringing Ronon with them and were already planning on apologising to Teyla for straining relations with Hendon. Kel'an walked down the stone walkway overlooking the packed courtyard below, easily carrying the weight, hearing Ronon behind her as she waited for the door to Hendon's household to shut behind them.

It slammed instead and Kel'an's anger mixed with her host's and she felt her control slipping fast as she dropped the small sack to the floor and turned to face the Satedan, well aware that Camilla's eyes were flashing dangerously.

"What?" Ronon asked her.

The man genuinely sounded confused and Kel'an ground her teeth as she checked the stone walkway. **"Camilla had the situation under control," **she snarled out as Ronon stooped slightly to place his two large sacks down.

The man arched an eyebrow and glanced back at the building on her left. "It didn't look like it," he replied.

**"So you came to our 'rescue'?!" **Kel'an ground out. **"You wouldn't happen to have _any _idea what is at stake during negotiations like these?" **She straightened up slightly. **"Teyla's people count on us to conclude negotiations that will benefit everyone."**

Ronon looked at her, confusion clear on his face. "They were taking advantage of the two of you," he ground out at her.

Kel'an shook her head with a derisive snort. **"They were _not, _Ronon Dex," **she said. **"It is what both Camilla and I wished for them to think. Of all the negotiations we have done, all have been a delicate process. The words spoken are often meaningless – nothing more than a way to gauge how the other reacts." **She shook her head. **"Speaking to the leader of the Tok'ra meant that Camilla and I had to the same if we wished to return to the world that we had called home for the better part of six years."**

"Camilla!"

Kel'an ground her teeth at the interruption of the barkeep Mattas as the man raced up a nearby flight of steps. Ronon glanced at the man, then back at her.

"Do you want me to…" he offered.

Kel'an shook her head tiredly, sighing. **"No," **she answered. **"Go, I'll meet you at the Stargate."**

Closing her eyes as she heard Ronon turn and walk away, Kel'an pinched the bridge of her nose, even as she took a relaxing breath and stepped back from control. It took a few seconds before Camilla took it from her, her body posture shifting slightly as different personalities and moods took control.

Cam rolled her shoulders slightly, feeling her tense muscles loosening slightly as she heard Mattas nearing her.

"It was a mistake to force Hendon's hand," he said. "You will only pay for it next time."

Cam nodded her head as she opened her eyes and lowered her hand to look at the man. "I know," she said tiredly. "Believe me, I know Mattas." She shook her head with a sigh. "I should not have brought Ronon with me."

"Your friend is not Athosian?" Mattas asked after a moment's hesitation. "Or one of your people?"

The Tok'ra shook her head. "No," she answered. "He's the only survivor of a world we know as Sateda." She shook her head slowly. "He saved the lives of many Athosians. In return, Teyla offered him sanctuary."

Mattas looked at her confused and Cam couldn't help but be confused herself. "If Sateda is his homeworld, then he is not the only survivor," the barkeep told her. "There is a man in this village who also claims to be from there."

Cam turned and leaned against the stone wall of the walkway and looked down into the courtyard. A part of her wondered if the man was there, waiting, now, talking about his exploits or nursing a drink or three.

Shaking her head, Cam turned to Mattas and smiled. "Many thanks, Mattas," she said. "Now, what can you tell me about this man?"

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon hefted the one bag of grain in his right hand, settling the weight more firmly through his arm. As much as he knew now why both sides had said what they had, Ronon knew he wouldn't change how he'd act if given the chance to do it again.

His heritage of Sateda – one of the only things of Sateda to remain with him, the lone survivor of his ruined planet – was something that he would continue to hold close and he knew he wouldn't change anything. He'd gotten as far as the edge of the village when he heard Carter's pace as she raced towards him.

Stopping and turning to look at the woman, he frowned at the sight of a small smile on her face where he'd last seen exasperation and anger. Ronon didn't know whether to be worried or not, but the times where Melena had looked the same worried him just as much.

"You wouldn't happen to have heard of a Satedan called Solen, would you?" she asked as she stopped next to him.

Ronon looked at her, taking in the sight of the grain bag on her shoulder. "Why do you ask?" he asked in return.

"I was speaking with Mattas," she told him. "He said that another Satedan was here in the village. He gave me directions to the tavern he heard of him visiting."

Ronon felt a flicker of hope kindle inside him. For all these years, he'd thought he'd been the only survivor for so many years that the thought of another one of his people had survived as well….

He couldn't put his emotions into words. He looked at Carter, struggling for words and she seemed to understand, bobbing her head in nod.

"I already asked Mattas if he could get rooms for us in the local inn," she said. "We can place the grain in one of the rooms and secure them before we go to the tavern."

Grinning at her, Ronon took the bag from her shoulder and gripped it firmly in his hand as he hefted all three bags. "Lead the way," he told her.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam walked calmly into the tavern that Mattas had described to her. Ronon was only a foot or so behind her, following her into the tavern as she walked through the packed tavern, smiling politely at the men and women she passed heading towards the bartender.

She leaned against the wooden barkeep and looked at the bartender. "We're looking for a man named Solen," she said. "Do you know him?"

The bartender, balding, bearded and older than many Cam had seen in Pegasus, nodded at the flight of stairs she'd passed entering. "He's upstairs," he answered.

Cam heard Ronon already walking off in the direction of the stairs and she smiled at the bartender. "Many thanks," she said.

The woman moved quickly to follow after the Satedan, seeing a tense air settling around the man as he listened to something in the upper room she couldn't hear until she was closer.

"…was alone," a man spoke. "And I was low on ammo, but I managed to take out the three Wraith guards and gain access to their ship."

Cam watched as Ronon's body shifted to something resembling relaxed. "Liar!" he called out.

The woman climbed the stairs as Ronon climbed the last few steps. "What did you say?" the unknown voice called out.

Cam finally got her first look at Solen the Satedan and she was surprised by how different he looked to Ronon. Where the Satedan she knew was well over six foot in height, the one in front of her was barely taller than her and carried more weight where Ronon had long ago burned his off running from the Wraith.

A small smile started to spread across Solen's face as he recognised Ronon – from all appearances. "Ronon?" he asked.

The man in front of Cam nodded. "There were two Wraith guarding that cruiser and he wasn't alone," he said.

Seconds later, in a show of surprising strength, Cam watched as the two men hugged and embraced, each laughing as they roughly tried to lift the other. When they broke apart from the embrace, the Tok'ra couldn't help but smile and laugh with the other people that Solen had been talking to, even as Ronon turned to look at her.

"Camilla Carter, Solen Sincha," he said, introducing them. "We served in the same regiment on Sateda."

Cam smiled and clasped her hands politely as she bowed her head at Solen. If this man was a friends of Ronon's, well, she could put up with the Satedan tomfoolery.

"I am honoured to meet you," she said.

Solen glanced between them both. "You two make a nice match," he said. "Congratulations."

"We are friends," she told Solen, a smile on her face. "Nothing more. But thank you."

"For years I believed I was the only survivor," Ronon told Solen quietly.

Solen looked at him with what Cam could only describe as incredulous. "So you don't know about the others?!"

Cam felt a confused as she could see Ronon was. "What others?" he asked.

"Before the city fell, a few of us managed to make it to the shelters west of the capital," Solen told him. "Over three hundred civilians found their way there too. When we emerged, we realised there was nothing to salvage, so we left – all of us."

Cam looked at Solen. "To where?" she asked him gently.

"Some came here," he said after a moment. "Some went to Manaria."

"Three hundred," Ronon said as he smiled.

"Drink Ronon!" Solen said as he motioned to a nearby barmaid. "And rejoice – you're not alone!"

The two Satedan's laughed and hugged again and Cam couldn't help her chuckle or smile. If this was what Ronon needed, then the grain could wait one night to get back to Atlantis.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon didn't know how much time had passed, but if the numerous metal beer mugs in front of him and Solen was any indication, then he'd been drinking with his friend for a few hours now.

Laughing at an old joke Solen had told him in Satedan, relishing in hearing his own tongue being spoken, Ronon looked at Carter, seeing her sitting on the nearby balcony, one leg on the floor supporting her as her other leg was bent on the stone while she watched them, smiling as she sipped from her own mug, one of the many empty mugs that littered the table. The woman had discarded her coat onto the back of a chair a while back and the tattoo wrapping around her right arm was one display for everyone to see. It was plain now that the full extent of her tattoo as it curved down her exposed shoulder and stopped at her collarbone.

Still laughing, he drank some of the beer, savouring the taste as he saw Carter walking over, joining them.

"Oh man," Solen said, giggling slightly. "To see Kell's face when he sees you."

There were currently two things he hated; the Wraith the obvious first while Kell was second – almost first with what he'd done to Sateda – and Ronon felt the laughter fade from him, suddenly serious at the thought of his task master still alive. Solen saw something on his face and laughed.

"Yeah," he said. "It's true."

Ronon wasn't entirely sure he had heard things properly as he looked at his friend. "Kell's alive?" he asked, trying to confirm it.

Solen nodded, taking a deep drink from his mug. "Yeah, and his family," he answered. "They're settled on Belsa." His fellow Satedan shrugged a shoulder. "Run this big trading operation over there."

Ronon understood his friend's sudden serious tone – Solen knew as much as he did about what the man had done – and he smiled slightly. "When were you going to tell me this?" he asked.

Solen shrugged a shoulder. "Honestly?" he asked. "I was going to wait until you drank a little more!"

Shaking his head at Solen's quiet laughter, Ronon leaned forwards slightly. "Then you've seen him?" he pressed before leaning back and relaxing as much as he dared in his seat.

Solen nodded. "Yeah," he answered. "He comes around now and then to trade weapons with the Belkans." The man looked at Carter and smiled slightly, nodding. "He's got his own private army now."

Carter frowned as she sat down. "Is this Kell a friend?" she asked.

Solen chuckled and Ronon let his friend explain, not entirely sure he would be able to explain the bond that he'd formed with the older man without 'tainting' it with what Kell had done to Sateda.

"Oh, he's more like kin," the man said. "He was Ronon's Task Master during his military training." Solen shook his head with a smile. "There is no closer bond."

And until Kell's betrayal, Ronon would have agreed, but he knew others had had even closer bonds of Task Master and Private in the army to the point that they were literally viewed as family.

"None," he said, remembering all those other bonds he'd seen in the army on Sateda.

Solen raised his tankard with a laugh. "To reunions," he said.

Raising his own tankard, Ronon clashed his against Solen's, his eyebrows arching as some of the beer in the other man's tankard splashed out of the mug, drawing a laugh from the other man. Ronon just smiled.

"To reunions," he said.

Solen continued to laugh, even as Ronon did the same with Carter's tankard before they all drank, emptying their various mugs before Solen motioned to another barmaid. Shaking his head, Ronon looked at Carter as she set about helping the barmaid with the cups on the table in front of them. The two women worked quickly, piling them as high as they could whilst still being able to see and move and it was then that Ronon was struck by how similar Camilla Carter was to his own people.

The revelation left him stunned as both the barmaid and the Tok'ra walked down the stairs, the mugs divided between the two of them. Solen leaned in close to him with a sigh.

{"Are you sure there isn't anything going on between the two of you?"} he asked quietly, slipping into Satedan.

Ronon shook his head. {"Her people helped me,"} he told his friend, replying in kind. {"They offered me a place with them and I took it."}

Solen chuckled at that. {"If I didn't know any better, I would have said she was Satedan,"} he said calmly, nodding towards the stairs where she'd disappeared. {"She certainly has a lot of the attitude I remember the women having."}

Snorting at that, Ronon shook his head before he looked at the man that had served alongside him. {"She's strong,"} he admitted, memories of her training and his first sight of the weights she could lift in the City's Infirmary. {"But she's had her own problems to deal with."} He shook his head. {"Strong, but still easily broken."} Martouf had not said much, but what had been left unsaid had provoked an urge to protect the woman.

Solen shook his head. {"Why do I have the feeling that any offer of sharing her bed would be dismissed?"} he asked, his tone teasing.

Growling under his breath, Ronon gritted his teeth, but remembered how many things had once been on Sateda before the last culling; every man a gentleman, but every woman willing to spend time to 'comfort' the soldiers of Sateda in their way. {"Because she would,"} he answered. {"She's got an older brother, as protective of her as you were over Alenna."} Ronon shook his head, remembering his friend's younger sister, the sister that had been culled alongside him and killed before he had been able to do anything. {"With everything that she has been through, it is not just her brother that you would have to worry about. It is her friends and allies."}

Solen shifted slightly in his seat and Ronon was struck by how much his friend had changed in the seven years they hadn't seen each other; being on the run from the Wraith for seven years had made sure he was fit, his body burning all the excess fat that his training hadn't but Solen had languished on Belkan, drinking and eating through the years in an obvious attempt to bury what had happened.

{"If these people of hers are half as protective as I was, then I won't make the offer,"} the man said. {"Shame really, she seems to be everything that Sateda used to be."}

With the sudden urge to punch his old friend, Ronon didn't know whether to be thankful or not that Camilla returned at that moment with two trays balancing at least five tankards each, a tray in each hand. The barmaid wasn't far behind her, carrying almost the same amount and Ronon calmly reached for a tankard.

If he could drown his sorrows on Belkan, then he would.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam shook her head with a fond smile as she drew more of Ronon's weight against her. While she hadn't had as much to drink as the two Satedans – the pair of them easily draining twenty tankards each and still able to stand and walk in a relatively straight line – she still felt the effects of the beer.

Walking through the upper corridors of Mattas' inn, Cam carefully led the Satedan to one of the rooms the inn keeper had given them for the night, navigating by the dimly lit torches, counting them calmly until they reached the one room for the Satedan.

"I'm not tired," Ronon protested. "Why did we leave?"

Opening the door with one hand and supporting the man with the other, Cam shook her head and helped him to the bed before dumping him there. The man went down without a fight, barely spinning enough to land on his back.

"I believe you've had enough," she told him.

She knew she would certainly have a headache in the morning before Kel'an dealt with it and without knowing how used to Belkan beer Ronon was, she could only summarise he'd be the worse off.

"I don't believe I have," he complained.

Shaking her head with a small smile, Cam quickly pulled his boots off before shifting his feet onto the bed. **_You're Mother Henning him, by the way, _**Kel'an noted.

The man didn't fight her then either and she wordlessly put his boots close to him, remembering the months after her torture needing her belongings close to her. If running from the Wraith for seven years counted as torture, she could certainly help.

"Goodnight, Ronon," she told him softly.

She turned and headed for the door, her hand barely touching the door as she made to pull it shut when she heard Ronon shifting.

"Camilla," he called.

Stopping, she turned to look at the man, frowning slightly, worried as he looked at her with almost clear eyes.

"There are three hundred of my people," he said.

She watched as he slowly, almost sluggishly, covered his face with one hand before she sighed and closed the door. As well as she knew how the man felt and wanted to help him through the sudden realisation, she also knew it was better to do it alone.

**_We had to do the same with Martouf, _**Kel'an said. **_While he is not mourning, exactly, it is almost a similar process._**

Cam nodded and leaned against the stone wall, blocking everything out. _I know, _she agreed. _But it still does not negate the feelings._

Kel'an hummed pensively. **_No, _**she agreed. **_It does not._**

Sighing as she stood up from the wall, Cam walked passed her room and down the stairs to the main level of the inn and stopped at the bar where she saw Mattas. The man leaned towards her at the end of the bar.

"Is there something I can help with?" he asked quietly.

Cam shook her head with a small smile. "I'll be journeying to the Ring shortly," she told him. "I need to speak with someone there. If Ronon comes and asks, will you tell him that I'll be back shortly?"

The man nodded with a small smile. "Of course," he said. "And don't worry about paying for the rooms. If he met his Satedan friend, it's the least I can do to repay the Athosian's for what they've done."

A-A-A-A-A-A

With a muted groan, Ronon sat beside Camilla at the bar in the local tavern, watching as she absently nursed a tankard of beer. It looked like her first from the lack of any other tankards that Ronon could see.

"How are you feeling?" she asked as she nodded to the barkeep, smiling slightly.

"Fine," he answered as the barkeep placed a tankard down in front of him.

Fine enough to do what he planned. Solen's information was going to be very useful as he looked at the woman beside him, fighting through the hangover headache he had.

"We should be getting back," Camilla said before she took a sip of her beer. "Dr. Weir will be expecting us shortly."

Ronon grunted he continued to look at her. "Kell's here," he told her.

He saw her sudden surprised expression. "What?" she asked, turning to look at him.

"He's meeting with Hendon right now," Ronon expanded. "Solen just told me. I have to see him."

Camilla smiled at that, seeming to follow what he was asking of her. "And you want me to set up a meeting?" she asked him.

Room emptied his tankard with a sigh. "After yesterday, I don't think I'd get very far if I asked myself," he admitted.

Not entirely sure why he found her laugh pleasant, but she laughed at that. "I'm sorry to say Ronon, that I have to agree with you on that point," she said, smiling. "There's a saying on my planet when referring to situations like this and it goes something like this; there is no love lost between you and Hendon."

Ronon couldn't help his chuckle at that. While he didn't understand the original sentiment of the woman's saying, he could certainly understand how it described the situation with Hendon.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Sitting in what Ronon would only describe as neutral ground on Belkan in the tavern – emptied today – he could only smile grimly at the sounds of the market place going on outside. With what he had planned for Kell, the noise would be enough to mask the sounds made.

He looked out of window that faced the market place, his back facing the door. As much as it went against his instincts to do it, Camilla was standing near one of the empty tables, facing the other direction calmly.

He watched the marketplace closely for any sign of Kell coming and instead he heard the door to the tavern open. "I am Kell, from Sateda," his Task Master's voice spoke from the doorway.

Despite the years that had passed and the age that had crept up on the old man, he sounded the same. For a moment, Ronon set aside his hatred and his urge for a revenge, remembering his training on Sateda, all the times he had started to give up only for Kell to set him back to work, urging him to work harder and complete his training – if only for his own benefit.

Then the memories of Sateda, of the battles he'd fought after Kell had left, came back and he growled under his breath, standing.

"I am Camilla Carter of Athos," Camilla spoke. "Thank you for granting us some of your time."

He turned to look at the woman on the other side of the stairs, his body hidden from Kell's view, and saw her standing up from a polite bow. As much as he appreciated her show of manners, Ronon had a job to do.

"If we are to trade, I would know _all _the members of your party," Kell said firmly.

Camilla chuckled softly, nodding, even as Ronon made his way towards them. "Of course," she said. "In fact, that is why I asked you here."

As he moved into view, ducking under the stairs, he saw Camilla turning to look at him. Ronon turned his gaze to Kell, his own arms crossed pensively across his chest as his right hand grasped his blaster out of view under his jacket.

"Ronon!"

He smirked mirthlessly at the man. "Hello, Kell," he said.

Well aware of the guards, the Satedans, that guarded Kell, Ronon moved quickly, flicking the charge of his weapon to kill and drew it out in one move, aiming and firing in another. For a moment, Kell looked at him, shock, surprise and a moment of understanding flickered across his face before he toppled forwards, dead and Ronon moved quickly as Camilla did the same.

The woman drew a weapon from her clothes as he pressed his back against hers, his weapon pointed at Kell's lifeless body while the other Satedans around him pointed their weapons at him.

"Ronon," Camilla ground out and he heard the start of a double tone in her voice. "What have you done?!"

Ronon didn't answer her, but lowered his blaster and looked at the others around him, holding his hands out. As armed as he was, he knew they would understand he wouldn't shoot while spoke, an only signal from Sateda ingrained in all of them.

"We all know who this man was," he snarled. "What he was; if anyone here believes he should be avenged, here I am."

He watched the guards he could see, watching their expressions as they looked at each other before one nodded and the ones he could see lowered their weapons, standing down. Not waiting another moment, Ronon left.

A-A-A-A-A-A

For the second time in two days, Cam felt anger burning in her veins, but this time she wasn't about to let Kel'an have the 'task' of tearing into Ronon. No, she needed that now after everything. Taking a moment to look at Kell's body with more than a hint of sadness, she bowed politely to the Satedan men and left, flipping her Chulak dagger so that the blade rested against her forearm and out of view as she moved after Ronon.

It took her only a few short seconds to catch up to him and without any remorse, she grabbed him firmly, not bothering to check her strength, and shoved him into the nearest deserted alley, the two of them heading deeper as she flipped her blade again and pressed the keen edge against the man's throat.

"You dared to use me to murder an innocent man!" she snarled at him.

In a surprising show of strength and anger, Ronon gripped her wrist and pushed the blade away as he stood up, moving away from the wall. "He deserved worse," the man snarled back at her.

Cam shook her head. "You said he was like a father to you," she ground out.

She could never, ever, imagine turning on her father like he had just done. She wouldn't have been able to do anything, no matter what Jacob could ever have done.

"Kell commanded several infantry divisions on Sateda," Ronon told her, his anger clear for her to see, "and when the Wraith came, he ordered thousands to their death just to save himself. He was-" Cam saw him bite back a word before he growled, "he was a traitor and a coward. My _only _regret is that his death was quick."

Cam saw the man's body vibrating with anger, a remembered anger and she took a step back, slipping her dagger back into the hidden sheath of her clothes. She could understand and had the memories of Kel'an and her hosts doing similar things to the Goa'uld.

"I do not like it, Ronon," she told him, "but I understand. In fact, I might have done the same as you if I were in your place." She shook her head, running a hand through her loose hair. "No one other than my brother and _maybe _Teyla would understand." Now, now she could let loose on her anger just a little. "But I promise you, if you _ever _use my friendship, or Teyla's, like that again – _ever _– I will not be as understanding."

With that she turned on her foot and walked out of the alley, heading towards the inn. It was long past time when they were meant to have returned to Atlantis and Cam resolutely walked into the inn, up the stairs and into her room.

**_As much as I understand and empathise with the man, that was a low blow, _**Kel'an muttered. **_I will be the first to admit that the Tok'ra have done heinous things in the name of justice, but we never undermined the trust of our allies by keeping secrets such as these from them._**

Shaking her head angrily, Cam felt Kel'an strength flowing through her as she picked up one of the larger sacks of grain, feeling her muscles flexing and burning slightly with the effort to lift the sack, as well as the smaller one.

As filled with anger as she was, Cam suddenly felt the larger sack being lifted out of her grip, followed quickly by the other, large sack. "Let's go," Ronon told her.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Teyla stood at the bottom of the stairs in Atlantis' Gate Room, watching as both Camilla and Ronon stepped through, the latter carrying two large sacks of grain while Camilla carried another, smaller one in her arms. Nodding to her people waiting with her, she gestured for them to meet the two halfway.

"Take the grain to the storage room," she ordered as she moved to meet her two friends.

She frowned, however, when she saw the tense set to both Camilla and Ronon's shoulders. The mission to Belkan for the Athosians should have been an easy mission, something for the two to relax on, but it seemed like something had happened.

Out of habit as the two neared, Teyla greeted the two, touching first Camilla's forehead then Ronon's in greeting before she looked between the two of them again. "What happened on Belkan?" she asked.

Camilla shook her head tiredly. "Not now, Teyla," she said softly. "I promise that I'll tell you later."

Teyla saw the woman wince as they heard Doctor Weir shouting something at Doctor McKay. "What happened?" Ronon rumbled.

Teyla sighed. While Camilla's mission appeared to have been a success, theirs had not been and Doctor Weir was making her displeasure known.

"Doctor McKay managed to destroy the weapon on the Dorandan's planet," she answered. "Apparently he managed to take the majority of the solar system there with the planet."

Teyla watched, surprised, as Camilla groaned and rubbed her temples with both hands. "The idiot," she muttered. "I do not need this, not now." The Tok'ra sighed at that and looked at Teyla. "If you'll forgive me, I'll go join Elizabeth in shouting at Rodney."

Without waiting, the woman walked passed her and Teyla watched as Camilla jogged up the stairs and through the Control Room, across the bridge and into Doctor Weir's office. Tilting her head, Teyla watched with Ronon as the sliding glass door that stood between the walkway and the expedition leader's office slid shut, blocking Doctor Weir's shouting before Camilla's suddenly joined in, muffled by the glass, but still audible.

If the Athosian wasn't wrong, the Tok'ra was using several Ancient terms in her diatribe of the man. Sighing and shaking her head, Teyla turned her attention to Ronon.

"What happened on Belkan?" she asked him.

She saw the man sigh. "Can we talk privately?" he asked.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam grunted as she lifted her training staff up, turned and twisted the weapon to attack her opponent. Not that she actually fought one, but she was using a mental equivalent to take her anger out on.

Already, two staffs lay splintered and broken at the edge of the mat, wrapped in a spare cloth, waiting to be carried away to be used for something else. The woman spun her current staff, thankful for the one, weighted end, and lifted it above her head for a few short seconds as she continued to spin it before turning yet again and attacking an invisible opponent.

While her fighting skills would certainly leave much to be desired, it was enough to work her anger out. Cursing moments later when the staff broke, following the others, Cam tossed the two halves to join the others, well aware that this time she would have a fair amount of material for any carving she might wish to do.

Taking a breath, she forced herself to try and calm down. _Mai'tac, why can't I just calm down?!_

Kel'an chuckled mirthlessly in her mind. **_My own anger has to be contributing to your outburst, _**she answered.

Cam sighed and nodded, rubbing her temples for a few seconds before she moved to knuckling her eyes with a groan. _We both have just reason to be, _she muttered. _At least that is what Martouf would say._

Shaking her head, Cam sighed and gave up. Moving to pick up the cloth wrapping the wooden shards, the Tok'ra moved quickly, removing evidence of her time in the gym.

_Let us just see what tomorrow brings, _she thought.

**_Hopefully something better._**

* * *

_"Therefore, when the mind knows itself and loves itself, there remains a trinity, that is the mind, love and knowledge." Peter Lombard_


	20. Chap 19: Instinct

Disclaimer: I think everyone gets the gist of this now. Outside of my own characters, I own no one and nothing. Admittedly, I'm planning on creating a portal and grabbing John Sheppard and Ronon Dex. Two of the hottest men to ever grace the TV screen!

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I can only apologise for this chapter taking so long to get out to you. Since I last posted, I've had work, stress and an operation to deal with. I've been over worked, stressed because I've been overworked and I've been stressed because of the operation I went through and just plain stressed from everything happening in my life.

Sorry, but with what I've been through, I've been stressed. I've also suffered a little Writer's block with this chapter. I've fought through it to get this out to everyone and I hope you can all tell me what you think. I would love to hear everyone's ideas. I do apologise for not replying to any reviews this chapter, since I last posted, but with everything going on, I just didn't want to stress myself out any more than I already was – which looking back was really, really stressed. ***shakes head*** Anyway, I promise to respond to reviews from today onwards.

Oh, by the way for those of you who know what my PoD is, next chapter is it. I'm going to be writing, in essence, two chapters, one following TiA's continuity, the other following the PoD's continuity. I hope everyone is understanding when I don't deliver this coming Friday, but I'll have two chapters to write and get ready for posting at the same time and I hope to have them both ready soon - not this Friday, but soon.

Anyway, enough about me, enjoy the chapter.

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**Chapter 19: Acting On Instinct Isn't Always The Best Way To Act**

Martouf held his Staff Weapon at the ready, his weapon charged and ready for use, as he walked down a country lane in the middle of a town. Colonel Sheppard's team had required the use of a Jumper to get to the planet's surface with the Stargate itself orbiting the planet.

They'd arrived, this time, sometime during the planet's night cycle. And an apparently foggy one from the muted glow the torches in the quiet village gave off, dimly lighting their path.

"Another great vacation getaway in Pegasus Galaxy," Sheppard commented.

Martouf rolled his eyes. The more time he spent on, the now 'Colonel', Sheppard's team, the more and more he realised that the man was more like General O'Neill than he or his sister had originally presumed.

"Where is everyone?" Teyla asked, voicing the question that Martouf had.

Knowing that planet held sentient life was obvious from the buildings, but the sheer lack of sound of anyone speaking in the town had left him wondering.

**_As well as myself, Martouf, _**Lantash commented.

Martouf felt his tense muscles relax slightly, not nearly as much as he feared, but enough that the tense muscles in his arms lost the humming pain for a few seconds.

"There's smoke from the chimneys," Ronon Dex commented. "They're inside."

Martouf glanced at the tops of the buildings, humming at the sight of dark smoke rising into the dark night, the smoke only slightly lighter than the skies above.

"Hmph," Dr. McKay muttered. "Can't say I blame them." Martouf glanced at the man seeing a slight shudder pass through the man. "Nothing I hate more than a damp cold."

Martouf heard Lantash snort in the quiet recesses of his mind, his symbiote's derision clear for him to see. **_The man hates, loathes and dislikes more things than I have ever known a person to, _**Lantash muttered. **_It is a small wonder that Colonel Sheppard can deal with him._**

Martouf held his Staff Weapon at the ready, his finger at the trigger switch, ready to fire at a moment's notice as he calmly walked down one of the streets, following behind Dr. McKay and Teyla. He kept himself aware as he moved behind them, looking around himself frequently, even as they neared a village square.

_The good doctor is much like any scientist not trained as a man of the military, _he responded to Lantash. _Colonel Carter had that while Dr. McKay does not. The man has not been trained to put aside his fears and opinions for the mission._

**_And you have? _**Lantash asked archly – a tone that left Martouf with the impression that his symbiote would have arched an eyebrow if he had the ability and the control to do so.

_Being a Tok'ra is as good as going through the same training, Lantash, _he answered. _You know that, my friend._

"Let's check this out," Sheppard called.

Martouf turned his attention to where the man was walking; a grey stone building stood out of the way, not drawing any attention but the iron-bound door more than made up for the nondescript appearance of the rest of the building. Nodding as he followed after the man, Martouf watched as the man paused by the door, waiting for everyone to join him before he lifted the large door handle and pushed the door open.

The door creaked as it swung open, the hinges making the door swing freely despite the noise. With his hand on his weapon, Martouf looked inside the building, frowning at the sight of the people inside.

They looked normal enough for people inside a tavern, but it looked more like they were having a meal than enjoying each other's company. In fact, Martouf mused, the people in the tavern looked displeased to be disturbed by their appearance. There wasn't a single person in the tavern that appeared to be smiling, even as Martouf looked at the Colonel.

The man stepped inside and Martouf followed his lead behind Dr. McKay and Teyla, well aware of Ronon Dex's presence behind him, even as he noted that the conversation that had been heard when the door opened was now gone, everyone looking and staring at them.

"Howdy folks," Sheppard said lightly.

Instead of garnering the talking or greetings that the man had obviously been waiting for, more stares and silence met them and Martouf began to feel uncomfortable. In the past, anytime that silence had reigned this long inevitably meant someone was going to die and that it was generally the newcomer to the building.

Martouf snapped his gaze to a man that moved through the seated crowds, noticing the set to the man's stance, as well as the empty tray clutched in one hand. Despite not being good at gauging age of people, Martouf could easily see that the man was younger than some of the other patrons and severs in the tavern.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

Sheppard nodded, and Martouf saw his stance relax slightly. "Sheppard," he said, introducing himself before he turned slightly, gesturing to the rest of them. "This is Teyla, Martouf, Ronon, McKay…"

Martouf politely pressed an open hand to his shoulder and bowed at the man in greeting, even as he took another look at the people inside the tavern. While it seemed that they were not hostile, it was clear to the Tok'ra that they would much rather that they left, preferably the way they came and soon.

The server nodded as he tossed a towel calmly over one shoulder. "You from Ratira?" he asked.

Martouf glanced at Sheppard, seeing the man glancing at Dr. McKay, the man standing behind him and Ronon. "No," Sheppard answered calmly.

"Over the mountains then?" the server asked.

Sheppard made a slight grimace. "A little further," he told the man.

Martouf hummed under his breath as he looked again at the people in front of them; it certainly seemed that they knew nothing of the Chappa'ai that orbited their planet. "Huh," the server said. "Then you have come a long way." He seemed to think a moment before he nodded. "You'll be in need of food and drink."

The man turned and looked around the tavern for a moment before he gestured to a free table. "Sit," he offered.

Martouf let Sheppard, Teyla and Dr. McKay go ahead of him as he stayed behind, looking around the tavern – close to a century of habit serving him well as he looked around the large room for threats – as he helped Ronon Dex with the door.

Nodding to the Satedan, the two made their way after the others, the two of them taking seats with the others, each of them moving around the table to find a seat. "I take it you don't get many strangers around here?" McKay asked, gesturing politely around them.

The server shook his head. "No," he answered.

Despite the tense air, Martouf smirked slightly as the man turned and nearly collided with Ronon, the Satedan easily taller than the other man. Nodding to himself, the server turned and pulled a couple of free chairs over, even as Martouf sat down, leaning his Staff Weapon against the table.

"Especially those who travel near dark," the server continued.

Sheppard grunted. "Why's that?" he asked.

Much to Martouf's surprise, the man looked at them, surprise clear on his face, pausing in the motion of clearing their table. "You really don't know?" he asked.

"Callup!" another man in the tavern snapped out.

Martouf turned his head to look at the source of the call and his gaze fell on a bearded man, of at least fifty summers, his arms crossed in a stance of obvious hostility that Martouf would have been blind not to notice.

"What's your business here?" he asked.

Martouf glanced back at Sheppard, seeing the man smiling slightly, an attempt to try and charm the man. "No business really," he answered. "We're just travellers."

The Tok'ra looked back at the man and saw that he was clearly _not _charmed. "Then you'd best keep travelling," he told them firmly.

The warm smile that Martouf knew he had adopted fell at that, even as he glanced back at the others, seeing McKay's own charming smile falling back to what the Tok'ra would have labelled as his usually cynical look.

"Yeah," the scientist muttered, even as they all exchanged looks.

Martouf glanced at Ronon Dex and saw the man's hand shifting to rest against his forearms for a moment and he nodded once at the Satedan as he made to rise with the others. His dominant hand moved to pick up his Staff Weapon, wrapping around the grip easily as he took the slight weight of the weapon.

"Alright then," Sheppard said and Martouf was mildly astonished at the cheerful tone to the man's voice.

As Martouf hefted his Staff Weapon into his hand, settling the weight more comfortably through his hand and arm, the server stood.

**_Callup,_** Lantash reminded him. **_We heard the other man call him that. Remember?_**

"Wait," Callup said firmly before he turned to look at the man. "Goran, you can't send them out there."

Martouf watched as the man – Goran – looked over at Ronon and the Tok'ra glanced at the man in mild surprise, seeing the Satedan still sat at the table. It was the dangerously bland expression that truly surprised the Tok'ra.

"They look like they can take care of themselves," he said. "It may not even start tonight."

Martouf frowned at the man's comment and felt his eyebrows arch at Callup's next comment. "It's been three months," he said. "How much longer do you think it'll wait?"

Martouf looked to McKay and saw the man glancing at Sheppard before he looked back at Callup and gave a slight wave.

"Hi!" he said. "What are you talking about?"

Callup turned and Goran moved closer and Martouf frowned at the disbelief on the former's face. "The Daimos," Goran told them.

The Tok'ra turned his head to look at Teyla and Sheppard, all three of them frowning at the name. "Never heard of it," the Colonel said.

"It lives in the forest," Goran told them. "It'll be feeding soon."

"And it _is_… some kind of animal or…?" McKay asked.

"It's a creature," the formerly hostile man answered, "that has the appearance of a man, but it can suck the very life from your bones. It leaves only a dead, withered hush behind."

Resignation suddenly filled Martouf. The description was too familiar to what he'd grown used to fighting over the last year and he sighed.

"Sound familiar," Sheppard said.

Martouf watched as Goran and Callup shared a look before the former nodded. "Let's sit and drink," he said.

Sheppard seemed to sigh, even as Callup turned to the bar. "Look," the Colonel said. "Uh… we know you're not used to dealing with strangers, but we may be able to help you with this little problem you're having." The man sighed tiredly. "We're used to dealing with this kind of thing."

When Callup returned, Martouf took the tumbler of alcohol that he offered and absently raised the glass to his face. He took a quiet, slow sniff. There wasn't an odour of a poison or anything else and Martouf took a sip before he grunted and nodded.

He glanced around the others, seeing McKay placing his own, untouched tumbler down with a mild look of distaste while Ronon Dex appeared to down the contents of his in one go. Shaking his head with a gentle smile, Martouf took a larger, deep drink of the alcohol and savoured the taste.

"We call them the Wraith," Teyla told the man.

"These are the creatures from the old stories, from the time of the cullings," he answered after a moment.

McKay seemed to shift in his seat slightly. "So you have heard of them," he commented.

"Yes," the man said. "But the histories of them are incomplete. They tell of the great ships that descended from the sky, but there's no description of the Wraith themselves, although there were a few amoung us who guessed the Daimos might be one of them."

Martouf frowned at that, setting his tumbler down gently. "May I ask why?" he asked the man gently.

He nodded. "Because it, too, came from the sky," he answered. "It was about ten years ago and a bright lift appeared above the village." The man shook his head. "It crashed into the kills. We didn't know what it was; my people were terrified." Goran took a deep drink from his tumbler before he sighed. "I went with some of the other men to investigate; we found the wreckage and a few wounded survivors." He shrugged one shoulder. "We didn't know what they were, so we decided to take no chance." Goran sighed. "We slaughtered them, burned the bodies."

Ronon grunted at that. "Wise decision," he rumbled.

Martouf silently agreed with the man; the Wraith could heal from almost any injury and take the life force from others for what little else was needed. In their ignorance, the people of this planet had done the best to save their lives.

Goran shook his head tiredly. "Unfortunately, we didn't get them all," he told them. "And although none of us saw it, evidentially one of them survived. It took its first victim that very night." The man shook his head and leaned back in his chair. "We tried to hunt it down, but we couldn't find it. It's been out there ever since."

Martouf nodded at the information. "How many times does it feed a year?" he asked.

"It feeds three, four times a year," he said and Martouf relaxed slightly at the information. "It takes two or three people each time. Two years after the crash, it took my own son."

Martouf closed his eyes at the information, the new news dashing his hopes and he nodded.

"That's it?" Ronon asked. "One Wraith in the forest?"

The Tok'ra opened his eyes at the both disbelieving and entertained tone in the man's voice, seeing him reaching for his weapon on the table, slipping a charged chamber into the back of the weapon.

"Yes," Goran answered.

Ronon smirked as he stood. "I'm done by morning!" he told them.

As confident as the man was in his own abilities – and Martouf knew the man had reason to be after seven years – the Tok'ra didn't feel comfortable essentially sending the man out in the bad weather he had heard starting at the edge of the town just after they'd arrived. And, apparently, Sheppard seemed to have the same thought, one hand shooting out to stop the man.

"We'll all go together," the Colonel said. "In the daylight."

Martouf barely flinched at the sight and sound of lightning striking somewhere outside of the tavern. Callup paused as he walked passed them and turned to look at them.

"You're really going to help us?" he asked.

Sheppard nodded. "Well, like the man said," he answered as nodded to Ronon, "it's just one wraith. It'd be downright unneighbourly if we didn't."

Callup seemed to smile at that, even as Martouf looked at the Colonel, seeing the man drinking from his own tumbler. "In that case," the man said, "drinks are on me."

Martouf glanced at Ronon, seeing the man slowly sitting down, sighing as Callup darted off.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon knew he'd never been good when dealing with children. Even on Sateda as a young man, dealing with the children had never been his strong suit. The only time a child had appeared to completely trust him had been just before Melena's death, the little girl clinging to him as he had lifted her easily into his arms as he realised that there was really no survival for anyone on Sateda.

Shaking his head, Ronon forced the memories away, as he watched McKay dealing with one of the town's younger children. It appeared that the boy was of the age where Ronon knew he would cheer for either side of the fight so long as blood and guts ended on the floor before the fight finished. And it also seemed that McKay was worse at handling children than he was.

As the child walked passed him, Ronon shook his head at the man, ignoring McKay's 'what?!' as he absently drew his blaster, turning as he heard footsteps coming from behind him.

Goran seemed surprised that he had heard him, but he apparently shook his surprise off. "As far as we know, no one was taken last night," he told them. "But it will strike… and soon."

Like he had the previous night, Ronon slipped the power chamber into his blaster, hearing the weapon taking the charge. "We'll kill it before that happens," he said.

Sheppard shook his head as they headed off, away from the village. "You must be _great _at parties," he heard the man mutter.

Within an hour, Ronon knew he was ranging ahead of the others, his experienced eyes tracking the dirt for signs of Wraith. It helped that he knew there was one in the forest somewhere and that helped him rule out several false signs of Wraith.

Pausing to look at one tree trunk, Ronon heard McKay and Sheppard talking somewhere behind him, further behind Teyla from the sound of things.

_"We're talking about one hundred square miles of forest here,"_ McKay muttered.

_"Be patient,"_ Sheppard ordered. _"Ronon's been going up against the Wraith, one-on-one, for the last seven years."_

_"If anyone can track the Wraith in question, Dr. McKay, Ronon Dex certainly is the man who will do so," _Martouf added.

_"And exactly, how is he going to do that?" _McKay snapped quietly.

Standing up from looking at the log, Ronon turned calmly to face the men. "It helps to have good hearing," he answered, projecting his voice slightly.

"Right!" McKay said and Ronon chuckled at the shocked tone to his voice.

He chuckled a little louder when he saw Sheppard smack the back of McKay's head. "Carry on!"

A-A-A-A-A-A

Teyla knew hours had passed since the search for the Wraith had begun and she shook her head tiredly. As much as she trusted Ronon to genuinely find the Wraith and deal with the problem, it had been hours and she was tired and sore and very much irritated.

Casting her eyes up to the tree canopy, Teyla cast her mind back into the Wraith collective she knew she could feel at the back of her mind. Only one presence was close enough for her to sense and she frowned at the difference.

"What about you?" John asked, his voice intruding on her but not breaking her concentration. "Are you sensing anything?"

"I am not sure," she answered the man, feeling her head turning slightly.

It was in a manner she knew was instinctive of her to try and get a better chance of connecting to the Wraith – much like hearing a noise in the wilderness and turning to try and hear it better. "What do you mean?" John asked her quietly.

"There is a presence here," she told him. "But it is… different." She shook her head as she pulled her mind back from the Wraith. "I cannot quite explain it."

She paused and froze when Ronon lifted a single hand and John moved over to the man. "It's in there," she heard the former Runner say quietly.

Teyla didn't see what caused Ronon to suddenly sprint, but John called for the man to stop before shaking his head and running after the man. Teyla stood with Rodney and Martouf, staring after the two before she raced after the two, hearing the last two men behind her. She caught up to John quickly enough, but Ronon was still far ahead that she barely saw where the man was as he ran.

When they all eventually caught up to the man, he was crouched in front of a cave, his weapon drawn and one of the expedition's torches in the other. Lifting her P-90 as she skidded to a halt, she watched as the man calmly stood.

"It's in there," Ronon told them quietly, his gaze fixed on some point inside the cave,,

"It was the Wraith?" John asked.

Ronon nodded. "Yeah."

"Did you see it?"

"No."

Martouf sighed beside her. "Can you sense the Wraith, Teyla?" he asked quietly.

She hummed as she cast her mind back to the presence – it was definite now. "Ronon is correct," she answered. "As are you, Martouf. I can definitely sense it now."

She watched as John turned the flash light of his P-90 on before she mimicked him, following Ronon and John in, sensing Martouf directly behind her and Rodney just behind the man. She followed the two men in front of her, keeping part of her mind on the presence, as they all navigated the naturally dark stone corridors of the cave.

Teyla paused only when John did, looking down the intersection shown in front of them and looked down the one on the left, then the right, moving her light after her eyes. She paused a sudden flash of white at a corner in the corridor on the right, making out a face that quickly disappeared.

But Teyla had seen enough to know who and what it was. "A female!" she said, racing after the Wraith.

Following the presence in her mind, she raced down the corridors, hearing the others behind her, following her as she led the way through the unfamiliar paths. She raced through an open door and came to a stop as she levelled her weapon on the female Wraith cowering in the arms of a human.

John appeared at her shoulder and moved in front of her, his own weapon drawn. "Get out of the way!" he ordered.

Teyla recognised his tone, one that she had heard the man use with the Genii and various Wraith that they had come across. The man was serious now.

"Please!" the old man said. "Don't shoot! She's not what you think!"

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon moved carefully around the room, stopping just in front of Martouf, the man's staff-like weapon held in his hands, pointed at the Wraith. He'd set his blaster to stun moments before he'd entered the large room, already seeing the old man protecting the female Wraith. If the man refused to let go of her, he'd stun them both and kill the Wraith, no unnecessary killing.

"She's my daughter!"

Ronon paused, his weapon still aimed. He was sure the man hadn't said what he just thought he heard and shook his head, sharing a look with Teyla, the Athosian sharing his disbelief. The Wraith were murderers, killers, that killed their kind for no reason other than they were food for them.

"She means you no harm!" the old man pressed.

Ronon shook his head. "She's a Wraith," he snarled.

"Maybe so," the man admitted, still holding the Wraith close, "but she's different. I swear to you."

Sheppard snorted on his right, as did Martouf. "Let me guess?" Sheppard asked. "Wraith with a heart of gold?"

Ronon shared the man's distaste and felt his finger tightening automatically on the trigger and forcibly relaxed his grip. When Sheppard told him to shoot was when he would, not before.

"She doesn't feed," the old man told them. "She's never taken a human life!"

Ronon stared then, looking down his weapon at the two. The female Wraith – from what he could see – was young, not yet like the adults he had seen and killed.

"How is it possible that she does not feed?" Martouf asked tersely

"Please!" the old man begged. "Lower your weapons and I will explain it to you."

Ronon looked at Sheppard, seeing the man thinking over the offer and it was several long moments before the man did as asked. Ronon growled quietly, pulling his blaster back and lowering it, watching as Teyla, McKay and Martouf did the same.

He did watch, however, as the Tok'ra ground his teeth and flicked a switch on his weapon, the top compacting in on itself slightly. Ronon turned his attention back to the Wraith, watching as the man drew the female Wraith close to him, breathing words of apparent encouragement before he turned to look at them.

"I raised her as my own," he said.

Ronon was sceptical at that and cast a quick look around himself, taking in the vials and beakers and equipment that eluded him. "You live here?" Teyla asked, voicing both his and her scepticism. "Together?"

Ronon felt sickened at the complete thought and fought a shudder – he could never imagine living in the same, small place as a Wraith. "This was part of a mine before the last culling," the old man told them. "It's not much to look at, but we don't have much choice." He shook his head. "The people of the village would not understand."

"Gee, I wonder why?" Sheppard muttered.

Ronon turned his body slightly as McKay moved around the table, looking at the equipment there and the Satedan moved himself to a position that he could better be able to defend the scientist if he had to.

"The villagers told us that there was a Wraith in the forest," Martouf spoke firmly, leaning against his weapon. "They also told us that ten years have passed since it first arrived."

"Ten years ago?" the man asked before he shook his head. "Ellia was just a child! Do you really think she could be responsible for the deaths that happened immediately after that crash?"

McKay snorted. "So you know about that, then?" he asked.

The man nodded and sighed. "I was there," he said. "I helped kill the survivors. But, when I found a young female lying unconscious some distance from the crash, I couldn't bring myself to hurt her. I brought her here to this cave to hide her from the others." The man shook his head. "To this day, the people of the village don't know… and, and you must _promise _not to tell them."

Ronon felt absolutely no compunction to make such a promise and shared a look with Sheppard.

"She's _not _responsible for what's been happening!" the man pressed them.

Ronon shook his head as he considered killing the female Wraith without Sheppard's order. "Well then, who is?"

The man just grasped the female closer. "I believe another Wraith survived the crash," he answered, even as Ronon quickly grew sceptical for that. "An adult. That's who you should be looking for!"

Ronon snorted, shaking his head, even as Teyla looked at the two in front of them. "If she does not feed, how does she live?" she asked.

Stifling his ingrained disgust for the Wraith he watched as the old man shrugged a shoulder. "First, I fed her as you would any child," he answered. "But then, something began to change. The food no longer gave her any sustenance. There was a hunger growing in her that would not be satisfied." Ronon looked closely at the man's face, watching as his expression fell. "I… heard the stories of the other creature, what it did to survive. And I was afraid that was what Ellia would become." He shrugged a weak shoulder. "And so I started to experiment."

Hearing things moving around, Ronon glanced at McKay, watching as the man lifted and looked at the various pieces of equipment in front of him on the table in the centre of the room.

"I have extensive knowledge of the chemical properties of various medicinal plants that grow in this forest," the old man offered before Ronon saw him looking at McKay – the scientist lifting up a tray of tubes containing what Ronon could only describe as twigs and leaves. "Are you interested in science?"

McKay set down the tray with a sigh. "I'm not sure that's what I'd call this, but _yes_," the man answered.

Glancing at the old man, he seemed pacified by the information. "Ellia's hunger was growing stronger every day and I wasn't sure that I could do anything for her," he continued. "But eventually, I came up with this."

Ronon watched as the man reached for a large, glass bottle with a red fluid in it, lifting it up carefully in one hand. Now the Satedan didn't know what to feel. A drug that could stop the Wraith from feeding was an impressive feat and Ronon didn't know whether to believe the man or not.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Sitting astride one of the smaller medical beds in Atlantis' infirmary, John watched as Elizabeth paced in between him and Carson. He'd finished briefing the two members of the expedition, seeing Carson's interest grow as he'd spoken.

"A drug that allows the Wraith to survive without feeding?" Elizabeth asked.

John hummed and nodded in answer. "That's what he said," he answered.

"Is such a thing even possible?" Elizabeth asked him as she stopped to look at him.

John cast a look over to Carson. He wasn't some medical genius, he'd rather have the one with the knowledge answer the woman's question.

"We donnae ken enough abou' Wraith physiology t' say fer certain," the Scotsman answered. "Although, ah must admit it's intriguing tha' this Dr. Zaddik claims the Wraith survived on normal food fer a time."

John frowned at that. "Why?" he asked.

Carson shrugged one shoulder. "Well, if he's tellin' the truth, it might be the answer t' a very puzzling question," he told him. "Righ' now, our best guess is tha' the Wraith evolved from the Iratus bug."

"Like the one that attached itself to my _neck _a year ago?" John asked.

The man nodded. "Tha's right," he agreed.

John barely suppressed a shudder at that. "I _hate _those bugs," he complained.

Carson gave him a very small smile in answer. "Trus' me, ah ken," he said. "We speculated tha' they evolved into the Wraith when they began t' take on the characteristics of the humans they were feeding on."

John knew plenty – sadly – about Wraith feeding and it just seemed that the good doctor had given him far too much information.

"Now," the doctor continued calmly, "there are many aspects of human biology tha' are quite useful: bipedal motion, opposable thumbs, large brain capacity… bu' the human digestive system serves no purpose in the adult Wraith." Carson tilted his head slightly, crossing his arms absently. "So why have one at all?"

"Because they eat normal food when they're young?" Elizabeth asked.

Carson nodded. "Exactly!" he said. "Then, a' some poin', they lose the ability to sustain themselves with tha' food."

John looked at the doctor, crossing his own arms. "So it's a teenage thing?" he asked. "Pimples; rebellion, life-sucking?"

John didn't need Elizabeth to be looking at him to know she was giving him a look before he saw a small smile on her face.

"Somethin' like tha'," Carson agreed. "The question is, wha' causes it? If it's due t' some chemical deficiency, like a diabetics inability t' process sugar, then it's possible it may be addressed with some kind of drug."

John didn't need to have one of Heightmeyer's many doctorates to see that Carson was excited with the news.

"Zaddik could be telling the truth," Elizabeth commented.

"Ah'd like t' go t' the planet and check into it," Carson said.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon stayed in the trees around the outskirts of the village, keeping watch for Sheppard to appear. Instead, he saw Carter walking calmly through the village, stopping one of the people calmly and speaking before the woman seemed to nod and smile and carried on walking, getting closer and closer to the edge of the village and the trees.

Hearing a sound behind him, several feet away, Ronon grasped his weapon before turning slightly to look. He saw Sheppard and surprisingly enough Beckett, the two carrying cases and seeming to struggle slightly as they appeared to look for him. Standing with a sigh, he turned to face the two men, seeing their gazes locking on him after a few seconds.

It was surprising enough with Beckett here with Sheppard, but Carter? Ever since Belkan, the weeks between that mission and this one, the air between them had felt tense and far too stiff for the Satedan's liking. Having her here, now, on this planet, on this mission was going to test his self control.

Sheppard nodded at him before his gaze moved to his right and Ronon turned to look at where the man's gaze had gone. Carter appeared then, dressed in the clothing he had seen her wear that first time he'd seen her and it appeared that she'd brought more cases, though for who, the Satedan was unsure.

The Tok'ra looked at him and bowed her head politely with a terse smile, a silent greeting that Ronon returned, even as Sheppard jerked his head, a silent order to move away from the village. A quick glance at Carter told him that the cases she was carrying were settled calmly on her body and he moved to Sheppard and Beckett, wordlessly taking couple of the cases from them, lightening their load as he swung the cases he now held onto his shoulders, distributing the weight as he started walking. He calmly led the way from the village, following the small signs he'd set up to lead him back to the cave – albeit reluctantly.

Time past quietly between them all and Ronon stopped when he heard Sheppard stop and reach for something. Turning slightly at the top of a ridge, he saw Beckett and Carter stop as they looked at Sheppard.

"Teyla," the man said. "This is Sheppard."

Ronon shook his head, thankful now that his own headset was off as his hearing caught the start of the conversation between the man and the Athosian. _"Go ahead," _the woman answered.

"Just got back with Beckett and Carter," Sheppard said. "Ronon's going to take them up to the cave, I'm going to check in with the villagers."

Ronon shook his head then. If they were going to help the man with his Wraith 'daughter', then it would be better if they kept contact with the villagers to a minimum until they were done.

_"What are you going to tell them?" _Teyla asked quietly.

Sheppard snorted then, passing off his case to Carter calmly. "I'm still working on that," he answered.

Ronon shook his head again as the man turned around and walked back towards the village and he looked at the two people who remained. Beckett was reshuffling his hold on the cases he had while Carter was calmly readjusting the grip her left hand on one case as well as the one that Sheppard had handed to her.

Pausing in their journey to the cave a few minutes later, Ronon quickly told Beckett what his markers looked like and the rough direction the cave was before he let the healer walk ahead of him and Carter.

Moving through the forest, Ronon watched Carter carefully. He didn't know exactly how much weight the woman could lift and carry, but from what he'd seen Martouf carrying before, then the female Tok'ra should have been walking easily.

Instead, her body was stiff and tense and the Satedan huffed a frustrated breath. "You want me to carry anything?" he asked her.

The Tok'ra gave him a flat look as they walked. "I can manage well enough, thank you," she answered quietly.

Ronon shook his head, sighing. "Then explain why you're tense," he replied, dropping his own voice.

If the woman wanted their conversation to be kept quiet, then he'd accommodate her, not that he wanted Beckett to overhear them. Carter's flat look remained, but an arched eyebrow had made an appearance on her face.

"I'm wondering exactly how much I can trust you," she answered. "Belkan has caused me to question how much I place in you."

Ronon ground his teeth at that. "You know wh-" he began moments before Carter, now several steps in front of him, spun around to face him, stopping mid-stride.

Her eyes flashed dangerously as she looked at him, the whites of her eyes glowing ominously. "I know your reasoning," she hissed at him. "I know your logic. I know why you did what you did, Specialist Ronon Dex of Sateda." She shook her head. "However, it was not my logic or my ability to understand that was broken but my trust when you went about your revenge."

Ronon watched as she shook her head again before she turned back around and walked after Beckett. Her pace was calm, not belying their heated words, and the Satedan was thankful that Beckett had remained unaware of their conversation. Letting out a deep breath, Ronon moved to catch up, slowing his pace beside Carter as he changed the grip on the containers accordingly.

Carter heaved her own deep breath and Ronon watched her warily out of the corner of his eye. "I've been tortured, Ronon Dex," she said softly. "I have the memories of hosts before me being tortured and I know their pain as if it were my own; but the torture at the hands of Anubis and his Jaffa shook my confidence and trust in men." She shook her head and bit her lip for a moment. "Despite the years that have passed since then, I still do not trust all that easily and it took those years for me to trust you as I did when we first met."

Ronon sighed and shook his head, reaching over to take one of the more unbalanced container's on the woman's shoulders. He settled the weight of the container on his shoulder, rolling the joint to get comfortable, even as he began to think over Carter's words.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Martouf took one look at his sister and shook his head, taking several of the containers from her as Beckett and Ronon moved into the cave, placing their various loads down, even as Cam began to do the same. Knowing the rough weight of several pieces of equipment, Martouf calmly set them down accordingly on tables or on the dry floor.

"I see that Doctor Beckett has managed to draw you into this escapade of his," he commented as they both finished setting down their various containers.

Camilla smiled at him, her eyes dancing with more than a hint of mirth. "As curious as I was when I heard about this Wraith, Carson 'volunteered' me to act as his Sherpa for many containers."

Martouf chuckled under his breath, well aware that Camilla would hear it. "I seem to remember your comment towards the beginning of our time here that you would rather stay in the City," he responded. "What has happened to my sister since that point?"

Cam rolled her eyes at him as they both stood up straight, stretching their backs. "I have a department and friends to rely on for the translations," she answered, "I have a Tenoid Mech that I can study at my relative pleasure." She shrugged her free shoulder absently. "I am more used to be being helpful on missions outside of the base than on it, Marty."

When Martouf saw Ellia coming over, a tray in her hands, he shook his head with a small smile. "No thank you," he said.

To his surprise, when Ellia turned her gaze on Camilla, the woman smiled. "Would you like some tea?" she asked.

Her voice wasn't entirely like the Wraith that Martouf had heard speak, but there was a mild double-tone to it that made him think of the Goa'uld and Tok'ra symbiotes when they were in control.

**_We are, however, not like the Wraith, _**Lantash reminded him calmly.

Martouf resisted the urge to smile slightly or even chuckle. _I know, Lantash, _he replied. _You do not take life, rather you extend or give it, to the host. You couldn't be any more different than the Asgard are from the Tau'ri._

Lantash sighed, a tut echoing in his mind. **_Mind your cheek, Marty, _**he said. **_I know various ways to embarrass you right now._**

Martouf sighed then, rolling his eyes slightly.

"I wouldn't mind a cup, thank you," Camilla said and Martouf watched as his sister took the clay cup offered to her.

She nestled in her scarred palms before she took a sip from the steaming mug. The male Tok'ra resisted the urge to shake his head or roll his eyes at that.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ellia raced down the corridor, away from the man that had pressed his weapon to her chest. The weapon had felt hot against her skin and she could still feel it, even as she moved to her room. She curled in one herself as she finally gave up, letting her body lean back against one of the walls as she felt herself start to cry.

She didn't like lying to her father, but the serum did little to help the hunger that burned through her, but she hated that hunger, that pain that came every day, every hour. She didn't want to feed, she didn't like feeling the other, the male version of her, in her mind, showing her what to do and when he fed. It was horrible, disgusting and she hated it.

She tried to be a good daughter and a good hostess when these other people came. The two women had been the only ones to show her kindness beside Zaddik. Whatever had happened to that man, the one who had threatened her, she felt immeasurably sorry that he'd been forced to go through it.

Ellia felt another presence beside her and she relaxed slightly into the arm that wrapped itself around her shoulders. Oh, how she wished she could give back her father the years he had fed to her.

"It's alright," he said softly. "It's okay."

She shook her head and sniffed. "They hate me, don't they, father?" she asked.

She felt him shaking his head against her hair as he held her. "No!" he told her. "No, no! They just don't understand you, Ellia."

The young Wraith shook her head. Oh how little he knew her. Zaddik had raised her and she loved him dearly, but even she felt there were things he would hate her for.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Teyla stayed by the door that led into the cave that held Zaddik's lab and the rest of his humble home. The man had been right in his estimation of the place; it was not much, but care was visible in the way the room had been decorated.

With hearing honed by years of living under the oppression of the Wraith as well as what Teyla would assume was a part of the Wraith blood in her, she could easily hear Colonel Sheppard relaying what had happened in the village. A body, fresh from feeding had been found in the village atop a cart by the Colonel as he searched for the village's leader to talk with him.

"See? I told you she wasn't responsible for the killings," Zaddik said as soon as Colonel Sheppard had finished talking. "The serum makes it unnecessary for her to feed."

The Colonel didn't react, but he turned to look at Doctor Beckett, the man looking down one of his many pieces of equipment. "Can you confirm that?" he asked quietly.

The healer lifted his head to look at the Colonel and shook his head. "Nae yet," he answered. "It will be a while before Ah can complete my analysis."

Teyla frowned, glancing at Ronon as he stood opposite her, at the other side of the door, as John said something that even her hearing couldn't pick up before he shook his head. "Well, in the meantime, there's another Wraith out there," the man said.

Taking a step forwards, Teyla could feel the presence of Teyla in her mind as easily as she had earlier in the day and she glanced at John before she looked at Zaddik.

"I believe Ellia may be able to help us find out," she said.

The aged man frowned as he looked at her. "How?" he asked.

Teyla sighed and smiled softly. It was her own burden to carry to know that she could hear the thoughts of the Wraith at will; she would not tell the man. He was already burdened taking care of a child not his own, she would not add to it.

"May I speak with her?" she asked him.

The man seemed to understand her deflection and he seemed to think things over in his mind before he nodded.

"Alright," he answered.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon watched as Beckett fiddled with a piece of technology connected to the 'laptop' that the man had brought with him. He didn't understand how looking through that piece of technology could help the man understand this serum of Zaddik's, but it appeared to be working, even as Carter stood at the end of the table opposite from Beckett, looking at the tubes of stuff that lay on it between the two.

The woman had certainly given him something to think over and he'd done so, in between dealing with the female Wraith and now. Before his thoughts could go any further, the former Runner heard Teyla's familiarly hurried footsteps coming through the caves back to them.

"Zaddik?" the woman asked as soon as she'd entered the main cave. "Is there a river nearby?"

Ronon stood up at that information, watching as the old man nodded after a moment. "Yes," he answered. "Just to the east."

Ronon turned his gaze to Teyla and watched as she calmly reached for her P-90 and picked it up. That was all he needed and Ronon reached for his own weapon, slipping the power chamber into the back of it as he moved to the doorway.

It was time to hunt some Wraith and do what he did best.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Rodney sat beside Camilla, both of them sitting outside the network of caves, the two of them just sitting outside and enjoying the fresh air. As far as Rodney was concerned, the female Wraith inside was still a Wraith – admittedly an intriguing one, but she was still a Wraith. He'd felt uncomfortable staying in the caves where she was.

She was smiling far too much with everyone and that had gotten on his nerves. He didn't trust anyone who was naturally all smiles like she was. She had to be hiding something, something she didn't want anyone, not even Zaddik, to know.

Glancing at Camilla, he saw her resting her weight through her arms as she leaned back slightly on the moss covered stones they sat on.

"I can feel you looking at me, Rodney," Camilla said, not removing her gaze from whatever she was looking at in front of her.

Rodney flushed at that and looked away. "Just wondering why you came with Sheppard here," he told her.

It was a lie, but was curious as well. The Tok'ra chuckled beside him, shaking her head with a small smile.

"Carson has a gift for 'volunteering' others to do some of his work," she answered. "I was asked to carry his containers of equipment."

Rodney shook his head and made to speak, even as he saw her raise a hand, her body suddenly tense. "Oh, mai'tac," she breathed. "Get Carson!"

Rodney frowned and looked where she was looking. "What?" he asked her.

"Unless John enlisted the aid of the villagers, they've started their own hunt!"

Rodney made a break for it then, leaping from his seat and into the caves.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Lying on her stomach, her Staff Weapon close at hand, Cam heard Rodney running towards her as she looked down on the villagers below. The people were talking loudly and carried various farm implements, all of them looking like they were about to take part in an old-fashioned lynching that had once been the norm on Earth.

"Looks like they've decided to join the hunt," Rodney muttered.

The Tok'ra heard two other bodies come close and mimic her posture on the ground. "If they find Ellia, they'll kill her," Zaddik said.

Cam sighed and reached for her radio earpiece, tapping it calmly. "Sheppard, this is Carter," she said softly.

_"What is it?!"_

Cam rolled her eyes at that, even as she kept an eye on the villagers. "The villager's have moved into the forest," she reported quietly. "It looks like they've gotten fed up of waiting."

There was a tense pause and Cam felt her hands shaking slightly. **_Hurry up, man, _**Kel'an muttered. **_I'm nervous when I shouldn't be!_**

Cam shook her head and waited, holding her breath to try and steady her shared nerves. _"Are they headin' for the caves?" _the Colonel asked.

Cam looked over the edge and shook her head. "Not yet, no," she answered.

_"Alright, get back there and sit tight."_

There was a quiet click and Cam sighed, resting her head against the dirt with a muted thud. "You heard the man," she told him. "Go."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Martouf calmly walked through the forest, his Staff Weapon held ready and active in his right hand, the weight comfortable and familiar as he followed Ronon as the man tracked the Wraith footprints calmly, weaving through the trees as he did so.

His hearing, already heightened beyond normal human tolerances, heard the static chirrup of Sheppard's radio.

_"Colonel Sheppard, come in!"_

Martouf frowned as he heard Beckett's voice. "Go ahead," the Colonel answered.

_"We've go another problem," _the doctor answered. _"Ellia's gone an' she's injected herself with the retrovirus."_

Martouf was confused as he continued to walk, feeling Lantash quietening his footsteps. **_The good doctor has been working on a method of dealing with the Wraith, Martouf, _**his symbiote told him. **_You do remember the man talking about months ago?_**

Martouf rolled his eyes at that, nodding slightly. "Why would she do _that_?" Sheppard asked.

_"She musta heard us talkin' abou' it," _Beckett answered. _"Ah tol' Zaddik it migh' be the key t' makin' her human."_

Martouf ground his teeth, even as he heard Ronon calling back quietly, his voice carrying just enough to warn them they were closer. "Look! Ronon says we're close," Sheppard said after a few seconds. "If we lose the trail now, we may never catch the Wraith."

It was a few, quiet, tense seconds, that Martouf waited as he walked for a response. _"Camilla's alrea'y out there looking," _Beckett said. _"We'll go out and find Ellia."_

Sheppard seemed to shake his head tiredly. "Alright," he said. "But be careful."

_"Understood."_

Martouf ground his teeth then, remembering Beckett's words as the man shut the connection. His sister was out, searching for a Wraith with an un-tested retrovirus in her system that could be doing anything at all to her and he wasn't there to have her back, to keep her safe.

**_We could leave now if you wish?_**

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam raced through the trees, feeling the air rushing over her exposed skin as her feet took her towards where she'd heard the long scream. She moved with a speed given to her by Kel'an, her muscles burning with the exercise.

Slightly unbalanced with her Staff Weapon in her right hand, she skidded several times as she leapt over fallen tree limbs and deep holes in the ground. She'd been higher up, close to the mountains when she'd heard the screaming echoing darkly in the trees.

She rounded a natural bend in the forest of trees and the Tok'ra found her left hand snapping out to hit a tree on her left as she finally started to slow. **_Don't want to break any limbs now, do we? _**Kel'an teased her as her left arm moved back into the pattern of running, even as Cam forced herself to a jog, then a fast walk and finally a comfortable walking pace as she came across Rodney and Carson kneeling by Zaddik.

The man was lying on his back, blood trailing from one corner of his mouth and the woman moved to kneel by the man's head. "What happened?" she asked quietly, quickly scanning her surroundings.

It took her a moment before she relaxed slightly and dropped her Staff Weapon to the forest floor beside her. Carson shrugged a shoulder, even as Zaddik groaned.

"It was Ellia," he rasped out finally. "But it wasn't her fault."

Cam shook her head at that, suddenly unsure even as she heard a large collection of footsteps coming in their direction and she moved to a crouch, grabbing her Staff Weapon as she realised that it wasn't John or the others. Moments later she saw the villagers and she ground her teeth as she dropped her weapon and retuned her attention to Zaddik.

"No-no-no!" Rodney said angrily. "You people need to go _back _to the village! It is _not _safe here."

Cam looked at Carson and nodded once as she reached into her ill-fitting tac-vest and removed her Healing Device, settling the amber crystal into her palm as she moved to kneel beside Zaddik, right where Carson made space for her.

Closing her eyes, Cam took a breath. _Help me, Kel', _she pleaded.

Kel'an chuckled sadly in her mind. **_Of course, my friend, _**she replied.

Hearing the hum of the healing device activating as Kel'an took partial control, Cam reached out over Zaddik, her left hand grasping the back of her right, holding the cool metal of the Healing Device still against her skin.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon skidded to a halt as he came across the spot where the scream had come from, a distance from where the single gunshot had gone off. Carter was knelt beside Zaddik, her eyes closed as she held something over the man's chest that seemed to give off a hissing whine.

Sheppard was close behind him, skidding himself, as Teyla and Martouf finally caught up, all of them looking where he was as he finally noticed the villagers. Shaking his head slightly, Ronon could only silently curse at the villagers – they had decided to take matter into their own hands despite Sheppard's assurances they would work on the 'Wraith Problem'.

He watched, moving closer, as Beckett touched Carter's shoulder before he pressed something into the old man's elbow, his expression grim. Whatever Carter was doing didn't seem to be helping from Beckett's expression, even as the healer turned to look at them.

"It was Ellia," the man said. "She did this."

Ronon shook his head as he moved to stand by Carter, watching as her hands shook now, holding a glowing object in her hands as she worked, her eyes shut firmly. Martouf joined him, crouching down on beside McKay and Ronon watched as he drew out a gold device, a dark crystal taking up the most of the palm-sized object. Ronon watched, intrigued as Martouf slipped it onto his left hand and moved his right hand to clasp the back of his left hand before he mirrored his sister.

Right in front of Ronon, the Satedan watched as the dark crystal, hidden mostly by Martouf's palm, began to glow, steadily getting brighter and brighter as the two siblings started to move their hands, moving them in slow, steady circles on Zaddik's body.

"There's another one of those things out there!" Callup said as he moved away from the relative safety of the crowd. "Look what it did to Zaddik! I say we go after it now!"

Carter shook her head then, sighing as she opened her eyes, Martouf mimicking her as they both seemed to agree to something unspoken. The Satedan looked between the two, watching their mouths move slightly and he sighed. His hearing was sharp, sensitive, but it seemed that it wasn't as good as the two Tok'ra in front of him.

"No one's goin' anywhere!" Sheppard told Callup firmly. "We'll handle this! Stay calm." He turned to Beckett and asked him something that Ronon forced himself to ignore, even as Zaddik started speaking.

He listened to the old man, listening to his words, describing the Wraith child growing up, changing from a normal child into something hungry for the life of humans, of his own choice to give her some of his, just enough to satiate her as he worked on the serum. As far as Ronon was willing to go to help and protect those he considered family, letting a Wraith feed off of him was well beyond his limit.

"She never fed on anyone after that?" Sheppard pressed the man.

Zaddik shook his head, groaning. "No," he answered, his tone firm.

Ronon couldn't suppress his frown at that – there was no way that the man could be so sure in his knowledge that the female Wraith hadn't fed.

"Alright," Sheppard said after a moment. "Teyla, Ronon, Martouf. You're with me." The military man looked at the rest of the group. "The rest of you stay here."

"Colonel, the retrovirus is acting quickly!" Beckett said, stopping them as he got to his feet. "The human part of her is almost gone."

Sheppard looked at the man. "You said she killed the other Wraith and saved McKay's life," he commented.

"Aye," Beckett agreed. "But ah'm nae sure she knew wha' she was doing. She's operatin' on a purely animal level right now."

"Is there nothing you can do for her?" Teyla asked.

Beckett shrugged. "Ah might be able t' reverse the effects," he said before adding, "if ye bring her back alive, but Ah doubt she'll cooperate. She's also faster than any Wraith ah've ever seen."

"Great!" Sheppard said as he moved calmly past Ronon.

The Satedan shrugged a shoulder. Beckett hadn't met that many Wraith while he had spent seven years running from them. He would be the judge of how fast Ellia was.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Teyla did her best to multi-task as she walked through the forest, doing her best to focus on both the forest floor in front of her as well as the single Wraith presence in her mind. It had been getting stronger the further away from the villagers they moved.

Now it was almost a constant humming in her mind, but she couldn't say where Ellia was, where her presence was, the sound, the presence was just far too… too… Teyla couldn't think of a way to describe it accurately and shook her head, both to clear her thoughts as well as to try and locate Ellia.

Martouf walked near her, acting as a wordless bodyguard as he seemed to understand that she was burying herself in the Hive mind connection. He kept a few feet behind her as John walked beside her.

_"Colonel, this is Beckett," _the radios attached to their tactical vests activated.

John grunted, tapping his earpiece absently. "Go ahead," he answered.

_"Zaddik's dead."_

Teyla sighed, a part of her mourning the death of an innocent at the hands of a Wraith. "Understood," John said shortly.

The Athosian carried on walking, even as she became aware that John and Martouf had pulled back slightly, letting her go one ahead as they paused to talk with Ronon. Pausing by a large tree, Teyla took a breath, closed her eyes and delved even further into the Hive Mind, searching deeper and deeper for Ellia.

Opening her eyes, she tilted her head, hoping that he gaze would find the young female Wraith before her mind did – even as she felt her eyes jumping slightly as her mind focused more intently on the connection than what was happening outside of her body.

"Ellia?" she called out. "We want to help you. Dr. Beckett can make you better, but you have to come with us. We will not hurt you."

She turned slightly and walked back from the tree, hoping that somehow the human inside the Wraith would hear her, would understand. Hearing rustling and snapping from behind her, Teyla spun automatically, her connection lost for a few precious seconds. That was all Ellia needed as she leapt out from the trees and attacked her, shrieking loudly as she did so.

Teyla kicked out with her legs as she was forced to the ground, Ellia's bulk on top of her. But to no avail, Ellia's weight on her body was suffocating her, even as he head throbbed painfully. Doing all she could, Teyla covered her face with her arms, doing her best to deflect the unconscious blows Ellia was landing. As she quickly found herself growing weaker, the Athosian heard the familiar sounds of racing feet, and weapons working. Feeling a burning that she could only ever associate with Ronon's weapon, Teyla pushed Ellia off of her, even as she felt her body and mind succumbing to the pain in her head.

A-A-A-A-A-A

John ground his teeth as he shrugged his tac vest off and unzipped the pale, grey and black base jacket he wore. Stripping it off, John knew he was exposing more of his skin for a Wraith to feed from, but right now, with Teyla lying unconscious in front of him he needed to cushion her head and catch the blood that had already started to seep from the back of her head.

"She took a blow to the head with it hit her," Ronon said, drawing back red fingers.

John nodded, even as he saw Martouf carefully rolling Teyla, while he tossed his jacket to one side and slipped his tac vest back on. He had his weapons, it would do for now. "Stay with her," he ordered the Tok'ra and the Satedan as he grabbed his jacket and hurriedly folded it.

Ronon glared at him. "Sheppard," he said.

John shook his head. "That's an order!" he told the man firmly as he handed Martouf his folded jacket and followed after Ellia.

He knew the former Runner wouldn't like to sit around, waiting, but he needed someone to stay with her and protect Martouf as he thought the Tok'ra might try to heal her.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Martouf was well aware of the fact that Ronon Dex was watching him, even as he held his Healing Device to the back of Teyla's head. Lantash was holding his hand in place, taking the strain from him as the man looked at the Satedan.

Already, Sheppard had been gone a short while and he could empathise with the irritation on Ronon Dex's face. "Go," he told the man.

Ronon frowned at him. "Aren't we supposed to follow his orders?" he asked.

Martouf rolled his eyes – a habit he knew he'd picked up from Camilla. "We are sometimes allowed to make exceptions," he told him. "Go!"

"And who decides those?"

Martouf ground his teeth together, shaking his head. "We, the ones who follow the orders," he said. "We are the ones who can decide that."

Ronon grinned at that and shot to his feet. "Good enough for me," he said, moments before he disappeared into the forest, following Colonel Sheppard's path.

Martouf shook his head at that, turning his gaze back to Teyla. _I wonder if the people outside of the Tok'ra ever really grow up, _he commented as he pulled his hand back to look at the cut to Teyla's scalp.

**_Not many have ever experienced what we have, _**Lantash reminded him. **_All Tok'ra have survived torture, assassination attempts, some of us poisonings and others of us worse. Tell me who would not mature if given those experiences to know._**

Martouf smiled weakly then, nodding, even as he watched Teyla's eyes open. "How are you feeling?" he asked her.

Teyla levelled a glare at him, one that the Tok'ra chuckled at. The woman's pride had been bruised and she was certainly taking it out on him now. If she was well enough to respond to his questions like she was, then she was well enough by many standards.

A-A-A-A-A-A

John ducked under a fallen tree, one hand gripping firmly onto his P-90, even as he moved away from the tree. Ellia was proving difficult to locate and a part of the man wished he'd brought Ronon along instead of ordering him to stay behind.

Hearing a growl coming from behind him – a sound he'd usually associate with tigers – John gripped his P-90 with both hands and spun around, his body tensing as he automatically locked his weapon onto the sound.

Balanced dangerous on the tree he'd just ducked under, stood what had been Ellia. Her skin was blue and sharp, reminding John far too much of the Iratus bug – and he swore he felt his neck itching then, reminding him of his last encounter. Ellia had been wearing clothes the last he'd seen her and she still wore them, only now they were torn in more places that before and he shook his head. A part of him felt for the child that this thing had once been and he felt it deeply.

"Ellia," he said, forcing a warning tone into his voice as she walked calmly down the tree, her body in a half crouch as her eyes locked on him. "Don't make me do this."

She shrieked at him, shaking her head as she launched herself off of the tree. John reacted, his finger pulling on the trigger as Ellia crashed into him before he weight forced the P-90 from his hands. Reacting as Ellia's weight settled on his chest, he drew his knife and lifted it to stab at her, hoping to incapacitate her enough to get back and way from her, but her own hand launched out and gripped his forearm before he could do anything.

With a hand at her throat, keeping her back, John felt them both struggling against one another before pain tore through his arm and he felt something sliding down his elbow. A buzzing in the air followed by a red burst of light was all John needed to gain strength.

The blow from Ronon's weapon was enough to send Ellia off of his body and John got to his feet, drawing a hand gun quickly with his left hand. As Ellia started to get to her own feet, John saw another burst of red light hitting her before the tone of the weapon changed in the air.

Aiming his weapon, John prayed Ellia would stop as he sensed Ronon beside him. The former Wraith child glared at them and made to attack and John let instinct take over.

He shot her.

Once.

Twice.

The red light from Ronon's weapon hit her in the chest and John watched as she folded in one herself, like a marionette doll whose strings had been cut. Ronon grunted.

"You okay?" he asked.

John nodded, understanding the unasked question. "Yeah," he answered. "She tried feeding on me."

Ronon sighed as they both looked at the dead body that had been Ellia at one point. "She wasn't gonna let us take her back," the Satedan rumbled.

John nodded. "I know," he said, quietly.

Ronon patted him on the shoulder and John sighed, lifting his arm up to look at the damage. His arm, from the feeding wound down to the elbow was covered in blood and more slid down his skin and he winced. A scar would certainly be the least of his worries after this mission.

Turning away, the Air Force Colonel made to follow Ronon away from the body.

* * *

_"Common sense is instinct, and enough of it is genius." Josh Billings_

_"Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else's." Billy Wilder._


	21. Chap 20: Conversion

Disclaimer: I think everyone gets the gist of this now. Outside of my own characters, I own no one and nothing. Admittedly, I'm planning on creating a portal and grabbing John Sheppard and Ronon Dex. Two of the hottest men to ever grace the TV screen!

* * *

I apologise that this has taken so long to get out to you, but I've gotten it done. I will admit that a fiar part of this mirrors that of the new, PoD, but it can't really be helped. I've been struck with Writer's Block more than a few times throughout this entire chapter.

I'm going to have make updates, for now, a monthly thing. Work has piled up and I've got to keep my priorities straight. My work comes first, then TiA. I promise to have another chapter out in a few weeks, so look forward to any views, opinions, ideas anyone has on the next couple of episodes – Aurora, Lost Boys and The Hive.

So, for now, on with the show with Conversion.

* * *

**Chapter 20: Conversion**

One trip through the Gate and a super cautious Carson later, John sighed as he reclined on the stretcher, looking at Carson as the man pressed a hand to the dressing around his forearm. The Scottish doctor had seen his bleeding arm and had promptly ordered him off-duty, put Camilla in control of the Jumper and ordered everyone back to the City.

"This isn't necessary, doc," John told the doctor.

The man shook his head tersely. "Aye, it is," he said. "Ye have a serious laceration in yer arm and ye've lost a good deal of blood."

As far as John was concerned, letting Carson and his men push him to the Infirmary from the Jumper Bay was embarrassing enough, but he knew how much blood he could lose and still be functional. Mostly. He was, however, thankful, that Camilla and her brother had pulled Rodney to one side to deal with a minor 'injury' the man had received on the planet and he sighed, feeling the gurney coming to a halt.

"Alright," Carson muttered. "Let's have a look at this."

He felt the dressing being removed and John tilted his head to look at the damage, frowning slightly at the sight of the blood coating his arm. Even with the dressing applied, the amount of blood the thing could have soaked up wasn't much. There was thin layer of blood clinging to his arm, crusting and flaking already. Carson moved calmly, grabbing a swab and the man held it.

"This may hurt a wee bit," he answered.

A look at the one end not in the doctor's hand told him that it was a medical swab and he shrugged a shoulder. "I'm sure it will," he said.

Carson arched an eyebrow at him as he set to work and John just smiled at the man. While his own pain tolerances weren't anything compared to Ronon's, he still had a high threshold. Watching as Carson swabbed the area before grabbing a large piece of gauze, John calmly waited for the pain to start.

"This doesnae sting?" the doctor asked.

John shrugged a shoulder. He couldn't feel anything of what Carson was doing, but he could move his fingers easily enough.

"No," he answered.

Carson shook his head, sighing. "Well, ah ken ye have a high threshold fer pain, but this…."

The man drifted off and John frowned, looking at Beckett. "But this is what?" he asked.

The Scottish doctor didn't reply and John followed his gaze to his arm and he found his widening slightly at the sight that met him. The blood that had coated the area where Ellia had gotten him was gone. And so was the cut.

"Gone," Carson breathed.

John turned his arm slightly, trying to get a better look, trying to see where the Wraith had managed to bite him. "What?!" he said.

"The feedin' mark," Carson said. "It's completely healed."

Glancing at the man, John knew it had to be a bad thing. Humans didn't heal this fast unless something was messing with their system. He'd felt the pain and he'd seen the blood, knowing it was his own.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Martouf groaned as he raced across the walkways of Atlantis. After Ronon Dex had joined the expedition, the Tok'ra had seen the Satedan taking to running through the explored sections of the City, burning energy that the man had obviously yet to find a new way to vent after years of being a Runner.

In perhaps a subconscious effort to help the man feel more welcome in the City and amoung the members of the expedition, Martouf had taken to joining the man on his daily runs, quickly getting used to the activity. Sheppard had joined a few weeks after Ronon had officially joined and Martouf had kept an eye on everyone's positions.

In general, Ronon was in front, despite Martouf calling on all his enhancements as a Tok'ra. The Satedan usually led the race through the City, Martouf behind him and Sheppard behind the male Tok'ra. Today was different.

After Dr. Beckett had cleared Colonel Sheppard from the Infirmary – albeit with a stipulation of no off-world missions – Martouf and suggested a run as way of trying to calm everyone down after the almost needless deaths of Ellia and Zaddik. Skidding to a halt behind Ronon as they reached the starting point of the running circuit, Martouf doubled over a railing, clinging to it as his heart pounded in his chest.

Sheppard stood, almost completely unaffected of Ronon Dex, the Satedan leaning against one of the metal pillars as he panted for breath.

"I thought you said you were a Runner?" Sheppard commented.

Ronon frowned and Martouf was inclined to mimic the man as he delved into the small pack at the small of his back and drew out a bottle of water. **_This is certainly unusual, _**Lantash muttered. **_Usually by the time we reach this point, the good Colonel is doubled over, rasping for breath and cursing all three of us._**

Martouf nodded slightly. "That's funny," Ronon grumbled as Martouf held out his water to the Satedan, seeing him take it wordlessly.

"I can usually barely keep up with the two of you," Sheppard said. "What's with you?"

Feeling a nudge, Martouf closed his eyes for a moment, feeling Lantash calmly taking control before Lantash opened his eyes, hearing Ronon grumbling again. "What's with you?" the Satedan managed.

Lantash rolled his eye, shaking his head slightly, 'hearing' Martouf sighing in relief in the back of his mind, the aches in the man's body leaving his consciousness as the symbiote took over control. **"I can assure you, Colonel, that we were not holding back," **he said calmly, easing his host's breathing with ease.

Sheppard just grinned at them. "Ah, you're just both sore losers," he said. "I don't act like a jerk when the two of you beat me."

Lantash arched an eyebrow, taking back the water bottle that Ronon held out to him. "Yes, you do," the former Runner told him.

Sheppard rolled his eyes. "Okay, then we'll go around again."

Lantash did not need to ask his host, he 'heard' the groan that came from the man's thoughts and he shook his head. **"I think not, Colonel," **he said. **"I will not garner any favour with my host if I were to do so."**

Moving to take a step to the nearest stair case that led down from the walkway, Lantash found his eyes widening slightly as he started to limp and he quickly set to work, tenderly healing a strained muscle in Martouf's leg.

"Go ahead," Ronon told the Air Force Colonel as Lantash gripped onto the railings of the staircase and carefully limped down the steps as quickly as he could.

Something had clearly affected the Colonel and Lantash was 'stumped' if he knew what it was.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Teyla stood calm in the small room off of the main gym. It had taken a few months, but now there was a specific room set aside for what the humans of Earth called 'sparring'. Minimal gym equipment resided here but for the usual weapons that were used in fights. A padded matt moulded itself slightly around the base of her feet as she stood facing her opponent.

John Sheppard stood in front of her, both of them standing alert and calm. They'd been sparring for a short while and the Athosian was silently amazed at how well the man from Earth was handling himself.

Moving calmly, as per the start of new bout, Teyla moved one hand holding her Bantos rod out, John Sheppard mirroring her as they saluted each other before they began the fight. Quickly knocking aside the one rod, Teyla moved from offense to defence quickly as John Sheppard reacted quicker than she had anticipated.

Spinning and matching his blows with her own, the Athosian smiled slightly at the familiar pattern. John never lasted all that long, but he certainly put up a fight. Moving quicker and quicker, Teyla twisted her body and finally ducked under a blow, her left leg sliding to one side as she did so, tensing her body, waiting for the next blow that never came.

"Not bad, huh?" the man asked, smiling at her even as she stared hard at him.

Stand straight, drawing herself back up to her full height, she nodded. "Yes, yes," she agreed. "You're doing very well."

Teyla was well aware of the fact that her back now faced the door that led to the rest of the gym and she twirled the Bantos rod in her right hand, loosening the muscles there before John came at her again, this time tapping insistently at her guard, the forcing quickly getting harder and harder before Teyla started to block his blows, letting her instincts work for her.

Years of fighting had honed her instincts to the point where she let herself go and let them control her moves as she fought. She ducked another blow and she turned, watching John Sheppard in shock.

"You have been practicing," she said.

The man shook his head and calmly tossed one of his Bantos rods to one side before he slipped his free arm behind his back and held the other at the ready. Shaking her head, Teyla bit back a sigh. It seemed that John Sheppard had once more forgotten that two Bantos rods gave the fighter more chance of winning.

"Not really," John said.

Teyla twirled her Bantos rods calmly, letting an old, but quick, pattern settle her shaking muscles before she attacked. She frowned, keeping up her attacks as John calmly held her at bay as she threw everything she had into her attacks. John Sheppard had improved suddenly since their last sparring match and Teyla was unnerved, even as she found herself suddenly pressed against a wall, a Bantos rod against her neck.

Her own hands were crossed in front of her, holding onto her Bantos rods as she looked at the Colonel with wide eyes.

"You are showing… a considerable leap in ability, Colonel Sheppard," she said.

He looked at her, his head tilted slightly as he gaze settled on her intently. "You can call me John when we're off the clock," he told her.

Arching an eyebrow at that, Teyla nevertheless nodded – something had changed, snapping inside this man and while it certainly intrigued her, this sudden change from one day to the next unnerved her.

"Very well… John," she said carefully.

His gaze was still intent, but Teyla saw the beginning of a grin at the corner of his mouth. "There y'go," he said.

He still stared at her and Teyla took a calming breath, forcing herself to keep calm. She needed to find out what had happened and she could not do that if her emotions ruled her.

"Should we continue, or do you…?" she asked before her voice trailed off.

With her matriarchal society, Teyla had been with men before and she recognised the look on John Sheppard's face as he tossed his last Bantos rod to one side before he gripped her face firmly with both of his hands. Before she could do anything, the man in front of her was kissing her. Kissing her and pressing his body against hers as he held her against the wall.

Reacting, her hands released her Bantos rods as her hands shot to his chest. The man kissed her hungrily, demanding an answer from her before she pushed him back and leaned back against the wall, clinging to the pillar at her left side. She breathed hard, struggling to control her body's reaction to the man as he stood opposite her.

To her surprise, she watched as his expression mirrored her emotions – complete and utter astonishment as he looked at her, shocked at his behaviour.

"I'm not really sure just what happened…" he said carefully, frowning as he looked around himself.

Teyla pressed a hand to her throat, still somehow feeling the press of his Bantos rod against her throat. "Colonel," she said quietly.

Before he could say anything that Teyla knew would either break or mend their now tenuous, the Athosian heard the sound of a radio headset activating.

_"Colonel Sheppard, please report to the Infirmary!"_ Doctor Beckett's familiar voice ordered calmly.

Teyla heaved a breath of relief as she heard that, and she leaned back against the wall. "Are you okay?" Colonel Sheppard asked her, this time worry clear in his face, stance and tone.

Teyla forced a reasonable facsimile of her usually serene smile, nodding while she silently cursed her laboured breathing. "Doctor Beckett will be expecting you," she told him.

Colonel Sheppard had jumped between so many different things and emotions that Teyla honestly didn't know where she stood now with him. Colonel Sheppard nodded. "Yeah," he breathed.

Teyla felt her smile slipping and watched as indecision ruled across John's face – he seemed to want to stay and talk yet whatever Doctor Beckett had to say obviously had something important. He left then, walking quickly out the door and Teyla let out a sigh of relief, letting her body sag heavily against the wall as she felt her usual calm demeanour leave.

A-A-A-A-A-A

John sat calmly on a medical bed, straddling it like he had as he had when he'd spoken of Ellia to both Elizabeth and Carson. Now, Elizabeth stood next to him as they both listened to Carson, the man sitting on a stool facing him. He'd come as quickly as he could to the Infirmary, suddenly worried by the changes that had happened to him, making him far more forward with one of his closest friends than he would have ever been without what was happening to him.

"The good news is, we can say with some certainty tha' Ellia didnae drain away any of yer life," the Doctor told them.

John rolled his eyes at that. He'd known almost as soon as it had happened that she hadn't fed off of him; he hadn't looked any older and he certainly hadn't felt any older.

"We already knew that," he said.

Carson smiled slightly and nodded. "Ah suppose," he agreed.

John frowned slightly as he looked at the man. "That's the best good news you could come up with?" he asked.

Carson looked uncomfortable at that. "It looks like ye've been infected with the Iratus bug retrovirus," he said calmly. "The one we were working on to turn Ellia inta a human."

John arched an eyebrow and crossed his arms as he looked at the man. "You mean the one that _didn't _turn her into a human?" he asked.

"Ellia administered the treatment prematurely," Carson responded. "It wasnae ready, it wasnae even supposed t' be-"

John held his hands up and nodded. He understood self-recrimination as well as anyone else who'd gone through it and he knew what it could do to a person.

"I'm not blaming you, Doc," he said

Carson sighed and ran a hand through his hair absently. "But ye're right," he said. "The transformation was inta a creature closer to the Iratus bug than a ta a human, and I know how much you…"

John grimaced then. "…hate those bugs?" he finished.

The Scottish doctor sighed. "Aye," he answered.

Elizabeth sighed then. "But, for one ... Ellia was a Wraith," she said. "And she took a massive dose of the retrovirus. I mean, do we know how the Colonel's system might respond to the drug?"

John glanced from the head of the expedition to Carson, seeing the man shaking his head and spreading his hands. "Ah have nae idea," he answered. "It was nae engineered t' be given ta a human. It was nae intended…"

Seeing Carson heading back down the line of self-recrimination, John shook his head. "Doc…" he said, lifting his voice slightly.

"…t' be given ta anyone!" the man finished and John took a breath.

"Let it go," John told him gently.

He'd already forgiven the man for bringing the retrovirus to the planet and for anything that might happen to him. Couldn't the man see that and stop the unnecessary guilt trip?

Carson shook his head. "The problem is Ah have no idea how your body will react!" he said firmly. "Ah can nae even begin to guess."

John looked at him and wondered briefly if the Scottish doctor had given him too much information – or the real lack of it, really.

Taking a breath, John spread his hands and smiled. "Well, if how I feel is any indication? I'm fine," he told him.

He did. Though the incident with Teyla did play on his mind now that he thought about how he felt.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam sighed as she sat in the Conference Room, her arms crossed pensively over her chest as she watched the doctors and scientists argue, even as Carson stood by 'his' laptop, staring at the information there. Arguments between various doctors rang in the air, but Cam was calmly watching as Dr. Biro and one of the newer doctors argued.

"No!" the newer doctor snapped out. "No, that would only work if the retro-virus was going what we had originally intended it to do."

**_We should have brought pop-corn, _**Kel'an commented.

Cam rolled her eyes, shaking her head, wondering silently why she had decided to join Carson in the Conference Room when she couldn't offer much help.

"I disagree," Dr. Biro responded. "You are not taking into account what is happening to his somatic cells."

Cam sighed again, this time pinching the bridge of her nose as she closed her eyes. _I do not understand why they do not go with the idea of manipulating John's DNA after the virus has worked on the area, _she said to Kel'an, letting her closest friend hear her exhaustion. _It is certainly the best idea._

**_But adding more material for the virus to feed on would certainly not help matters, _**Kel'an pointed out.

Cam nodded as she looked at the scientists again. In the few seconds it had taken her and Kel'an to speak, Carson had stood up and paced to the centre of the room.

"Introducing more human genetic material into his body is only going to give the retrovirus more fuel," the doctor sat beside Dr. Biro said, looking at Carson with disbelief on his face.

Carson raised a hand and Cam watched as Dr. Biro stopped herself from speaking. "Yes, yes," he said. "I agree. That's why we have to use the Iratus bug stem cells."

Cam felt the lightbulb go off in her mind. "It'll be like the Ancient Gene therapy," she said, drawing the gazes from the other doctors and scientists to her. "Program the cells with human DNA and they wouldn't be attacked or rejected."

Carson grinned at that, nodding. "RNA, love," he corrected her. "Using the stem cells, we'll b' attackin' it from inside; like our own magic bullet tha' could navigate the retrovius an' start to repair his mutated cells."

"The only bug pieces we have are from a sample that died a year ago," Dr. Biro spoke up.

Even as she continued to talk, Cam watched as understanding flickered across Carson's face, the man turning to look at her, arching an eyebrow. Smiling to the man, she stood from her seat and left the Conference Room.

_Where did we last see an entry for 'Iratus bug' in the database?_

A-A-A-A-A-A

Martouf watched as his sister paced around an apparently now emptied Conference Room – according to Beckett and Camilla, the other doctors and scientists had left, taking their equipment and tools with them.

"The Ancient database has a surprising number of entries for the Iratus bug," Camilla spoke, her gaze flickering to McKay, Beckett, Dr. Weir and Captain Lorne. "It took me a little time, but I managed to find out enough about it to get an idea on where to find a nest of them." She ran a hand through her hair. "I have a Gate address and a list of the things that it likes; cool, damp, dark places to lay it's eggs and preferably hide in."

Martouf uncrossed his arms, looking at his sister as she stopped pacing to lean against one of the tables in the room. "It shouldn't be that hard to locate," Lorne commented.

"Wait a minute," Dr. Weir said. "The last time we ran into one of these things, we almost lost Sheppard. How do you expect to just walk right into one of their nests?"

Martouf sighed, looking at the woman. "We have very little choice to do otherwise, Dr. Weir," he told her gently. "The treatment requires the stem cells and the only way to get them is from the Iratus bug's eggs."

"With the eggs, we actu'lly have a chance of savin' Colonel Sheppard," Beckett continued. "Without them, he'll die."

Dr. Weir seemed to sigh. "And this is the only option we have?" she asked.

Camilla nodded. "It's the only viable one that we have, Elizabeth," she said. "We don't have time to work up another one and hope it works. We have to use this one."

Lorne cleared his throat slightly from beside Martouf and the male Tok'ra watched as Dr. Weir turned to look at him. "We all understand the risks, Dr. Weir," he said. "And I believe that Colonel Sheppard would do the same for any one of us."

Martouf looked at Dr. Weir and watched as she seemed to struggle before she nodded and took a seat with a heavy sigh. "Permission granted," she said. "Get a team together."

Beckett looked at Lorne. "I need an hour t' get my things together," he said.

Lorne nodded as he leapt from his seat on the table. "Okay, gear up," he ordered. "One our."

A-A-A-A-A-A

With the information Camilla had given about what these Iratus bugs needed, Ronon calmly led the way through the forest to a cave he'd spotted when the Jumper had come through the Gate. It was a fair distance from where the pilot had landed the Jumper and Ronon had looked to Lorne.

The man, according to what Martouf had told him, was Sheppard's Second In Command around the base, so he was the one technically in charge of the mission. He'd waited for a nod before leading the way, following a path laid down by the planet's indigenous animals.

"So what are we looking for?" Lorne asked.

"According to the Ancient database, a cave if the most likely," Martouf spoke up. "The bugs prefer the cool darkness afforded there."

Ronon grunted, glancing over his shoulder at the two men, seeing the male Tok'ra carrying a large canister on one shoulder. "They wouldn't want their nests out in the open," he agreed. "Cave keeps the eggs away from the predators."

McKay frowned at that. "I always figured they were the predators," he said.

Ronon chuckled at that. "I guarantee there's something out here, worse," he told him.

"Really?"

Martouf chuckled then. "Dr. McKay, there is always something bigger and stronger than the current predator," he said. "The Iratus bugs are not the top of their food chain, there is something bigger that feeds on them."

McKay groaned. "Thank you," he muttered. "Thank you for that!"

Ronon shook his head with a small smile. "Welcome," he said.

He didn't need to hear Lorne's comments to pick up the pace. He was already moving quicker, faster, leading the way to the mountains.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Martouf leaned against the stone wall that made the cave mouth, feeling Lantash settling his muscles from the tenseness they'd been in on the walk up to the cave and he could already feel the strain to his calf muscles easing as he checked that his night vision goggles rested atop his head as Ronon knelt in the dirt closest to the cave mouth, examining the dirt there.

"It certainly smells like there's somethin' livin' in there," he heard Beckett commented to Lorne who had asked him something.

"Yeah," McKay agreed quietly. "Or dying."

Martouf watched as Teyla squinted before she shook her head. "I cannot see that far into the cave," she said after a moment.

With years of tracking, Martouf was only mildly disgusted as Ronon Dex lifted up a pile of bright orange waste to his nose, sniffing it cautiously before wrinkling his nose and casting the waste off.

"Oh, well, that is disgusting!" McKaysaid, horror clear in his voice.

Ronon shrugged as he wiped the most of the waste off of his hand in the clear, brown dirt. "They're in there," he said.

"And you had to pick it up and smell it to figure that out?!" McKay asked him.

Martouf snorted at that, watching as the Satedan turned to give him a look. "To know it's recent," he replied.

McKay looked astounded. "Well, how recent?"

Ronon didn't answer as Lorne gave the scientist a glare. "So," he said. "What's the plan?"

Martouf looked at Carson who held a butterfly-like catching net. "Well," he said. "We go in there, we get some eggs, and then we come out."

Lorne nodded. "Okay," he agreed. "Ronon, Teyla, you're with me. Walker, Stevens, Martouf, you take our six. Docs?" He looked at Beckett and McKay. "Just stay in the middle and try not to get bit, okay?"

"Well, maybe someone should," McKay said as he pointed to himself. "Stay out here."

"So that you're all alone when a dozen of them come stampeding out here?" Ronon asked as he stood up.

Martouf slipped his goggles on with a sigh. That comment alone would bring McKay into line and he readied himself to move, even as he settled the water canister across his back again.

"I'm in the middle," the scientist said.

Martouf nodded. "Good idea," he said.

Ronon Dex sighed. "Let's do it."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon calmly led the way into the cave, doing his best to ignore the greenish hue to his vision. He drew his blaster and continued on frowning slightly at the sound that greeted him before it grew louder.

"Hear that?" he asked.

It was a loud hissing, chittering sound that greeted his hearing and Ronon heard Teyla exhale loudly. "Yes," she answered from beside him.

"Looks like we've got the right address," Lorne commented.

Ronon continued walking, leading the way through the cave's tunnels, pressing a hand to the stones every now and then, watching as the remaining dung from the bugs clung to the wall and glowed in the goggles' vision. He had a way to lead the way out and he relaxed slightly, even as he continued to walk.

The sight that greeted him as he reached the inside of the cave where the chittering was the loudest almost had Ronon whistling in mild appreciation. For all the damage the Iratus bug had caused for humans, they were in a large group here, in the cave, as almost a family group.

"Doc," Lorne called softly.

"Good God!" the Scottish doctor gasped. "I think this is it."

Ronon looked around, his hands ready on his blaster as he looked at the large sacks hanging from the ceiling a few feet in front of them. He would have walked towards one if the floor hadn't been covered in the crawling insects. It would have been easy if they weren't swarming all over the place, making it impossible to cross the room without killing one.

"So how do we wanna play this?" Lorne asked.

"They'll defend their young," Ronon told him.

He'd seen it enough times as a Runner to know that any animal would protect the young, even at a cost to their own lives.

Lorne nodded – the man may not have been a Runner, but Ronon was willing to bet that the man had seen something to make him agree.

"Maybe we should make a diversion," McKay said from where he stood behind Teyla and Lorne.

Ronon spared the man a hard look, arching an eyebrow.

"Are you volunteering?" Lorne asked him.

He seemed to shrink then. "I'll shut up," McKay offered.

"I do not think it would be possible to reach the eggs without the Iratus bugs attacking," Martouf commented, shaking his head slightly.

Beckett held up a device a Marine passed calmly to him. "Ah have this," he said, "but Ah need t' get under tha'." He pointed at the nearest egg sack with the device. "Hand me the water canister."

Martouf obliged the man, stepping towards him as he lifted the tank from his shoulder. "I remember, doctor," he said. "They dislike salt water."

Lorne looked confused and Ronon felt just as much as he watched Martouf crouch down and open the canister. "How's that going to help us?" he asked.

"Just watch," Carson told him before he looked at Martouf. "Ye min' laddie?"

Martouf chuckled in response and nodded, standing up and calmly hefting the now open canister. Ronon watched as the man carefully took a few steps forward before tossing some of the water at the creatures. The bugs didn't scream, but their chittering took on a panicked edge and he watched as they scurried away from the salt water that soaked into the ground, giving it a good space clear around the edge.

"Move quickly, doctor," Martouf said tersely. "There is not much water left in the canister."

Ronon watched as Beckett moved towards the male Tok'ra, moving slowly and he watched as Martouf splashed more water at the ground, keeping the bugs back, even as the nervous chittering slowly turned angry.

"Doc?" Lorne called, a warning tone clear in his voice.

Ronon watched as Beckett nodded. "Ah've come this far," he replied before he moved closer to the egg sack and reached towards it with the device.

It took Ronon only a second to see the Iratus bug heading towards the two and he pointed his weapon at it, the setting at kill. "Heads up!" he hollered as he fired at the bug before he watched it fall to the floor.

For the first time in a long time, Ronon wondered if he shouldn't have reacted as he had; the rest of the bugs in the cavern began to react, moving closer to Beckett, their dead companion and Martouf.

Martouf up-ended the tank, doing his best to keep the bugs back and Ronon shook his head.

"Oh God!" Beckett shouted above the angry chitterling of the Iratus bugs

"Carson!" Teyla shouted at him as the others opened fire on the bugs. "Run!"

Ronon watched as Beckett raced towards them, Martouf hot on his heels, emptying the canister as he did so – doing his best to keep the bugs back, even as Ronon opened fire on them, giving the two covering fire. He followed Lorne the moment the man turned and ran, leaving two of his men behind to give them cover fire. He raced passed the man as he ordered the two men to move before 'fire in the hole' echoed in his ears.

And not a moment too soon, Ronon mused, as he launched himself into the nearest green bush, feeling the explosive fire burning through the air before it cooled.

"I think that stopped them," he said as he got his feet under him.

"We're not stickin' around to find out," Lorne said with a groan. "I'm pulling the plug on this mission. Let's get back to the Gate."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam stood in the Control Room, her fingers absently drumming on her arms as she looked at screen where a message flashed. _'Biometric sensor activated'_ flashed for a few moments before it disappeared and an image of the city came up, showing many white dots. She watched as they disappeared and a red dot became visible.

"Okay," Rodney said from where he stood next to the screen, typing away on his laptop. "We've got a lock on him."

Cam moved closer to him, nodding as she felt Kel'an working through her body, heightening her senses and sight. Her gaze flickered quickly around the screen, searching for the lifesign that they needed.

**_At least we know that we have a way of searching for the man, _**Kel'an commented.

Cam hummed absently, her arms still crossed before she smiled slightly as her gaze flickered to a red dot that raced across the screen at an incredible speed. _Indeed we do, _she agreed. _It works and we've just found him._

"That's can't be him!" Caldwell said. "It's moving too fast."

Ronon smirked mirthlessly at him. "That's him," he told the man.

Caldwell nodded. "Alright," he said as he turned to look at the Marines. "Four teams. Surround him and close in. I want him stopped gentlemen – use whatever level of force you deem necessary." He nodded at them. "Move out."

Cam frowned at that, even as the Marines made to move out before Elizabeth turned to face them. "You will only use such force as a last resort," she told them when they had stopped.

"That's not Sheppard anymore, ma'am," Caldwell said.

Cam rolled her eyes then, shaking her head. "A Tok'ra can run just as fast, Colonel," she told him tersely. "The retrovirus in Colonel Sheppard's system means that he's working far above normal."

Elizabeth glared at Caldwell slightly before she looked back at the Marines. "You heard me," she told them.

The Marines nodded and moved out of the room, all of them holding Wraith stunners. Cam watched as Ronon started to leave before he stopped.

"You coming?" he asked Teyla.

She paused for a moment before she nodded. "Yes," she replied before she followed him out of the room.

Cam took a breath before she moved to follow them. "I'll come as well," she offered.

"Lock down the Stargate," Elizabeth told Rodney who nodded at her.

"Right!"

A-A-A-A-A-A

Kel'an moved ahead of the group that Ronon and Teyla had joined, hefting her P-90 in one hand, a Zat'nik'tel in her other. She was not about to take any chances and she wanted to be sure that the man was going to be captured. Alive, but maybe wounded.

_"Bravo Team, you're on deck," _Caldwell spoke. _"Tango is right below you."_

Kel'an nodded, ranging ahead of the group and heading for the closest flight of stairs. After having spent a few hours racing through the deserted city as the storm threatened it, both Cam and Kel'an had picked up more about the corridors than some of the others. She walked down the flight quickly, checking her possible exits as she heard the others descending behind her.

_"Stay sharp," _Caldwell ordered. _"He should be right in there with you."_

Kel'an nodded. **"Understood," **she breathed.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Ronon ranged the corridors above the rest of the team. He'd heard something and he was following what his gut was telling him. He paused, hearing the sound of something climbing and he smirked. Glancing around himself, the Satedan moved down the corridor and pulled himself around one corner, taking cover as he made sure that his weapon was set to stun.

He trusted Sheppard, but the virus was in control. If there was a way of freeing the man from the virus, then he'd stun him.

A-A-A-A-A-A

Kel'an cursed the improved reflexes that John had and let out a shot from her Zat'nik'tel strike him before she tossed it to one side. The weapon had had no affect and she wasn't about to risk it.

**"Colonel!" **she ordered. **"Stand down!"**

She watched as the man paused on the stairs and turned around, taking a few down. Kel'an lifted her P-90, sensing Teyla beside her. "Please," the Athosian said. "Do not make us do this!"

As he kept walking, Kel'an let a single bullet fly from the weapon to the step before the man. When that didn't stop him, she switched firing modes and calmly let out a stream of bullets at the next step, hearing Teyla mimic her. That was all that was needed to get John to turn around and race back up the stairs.

Lowering her P-90, Kel'an charged after the man, forcing as much energy into her host's body and watched as John got further and further ahead before a familiar glow and discharging sound echoed in the air once, then twice. The ruby red glows enveloped John and sent him to the floor and Kel'an skidded to a halt a few short feet from John's collapsed body as Ronon Dex stepped out from where he had been hidden.

"Get the doctor down here," Ronon said. "I have him."

Kel'an grinned at that, nodding as she moved to check John's lifesigns. She rested a hand at his throat, feeling a faint pulse through the thick skin.

**"He is still alive," **she said. **"Pulse is fast, faint through the thick skin."**

A-A-A-A-A-A

Jonas stood in between Dr. Witcker and Camilla, nursing a glass of Earth alcohol. He hadn't looked at the label, but he knew it wasn't 'vodka'. Dr. Witcker had gone for a glass of purified water while Jonas absently noticed that the female Tok'ra was sharing an earthenware mug.

The last time he had seen the two of them doing that, Jonas had discovered that the mug had contained a rather potent alcohol made by the Jaffa. The strongest drink that Jonas had had on Kelowna could not match the potency of the Jaffa-made brew and had promptly stuck to the 'weaker' versions, somehow managing to be amazed by Camilla and Martouf's ability to go unharmed drinking the alcohol.

While both he and Dr. Witcker didn't know Colonel Sheppard all that well, he had known that his friend was going to need some form of support now that the mutating Colonel had been returned to the Infirmary.

He looked up from his glass seconds later when he heard the sounds of hesitant footsteps coming towards the large balcony in the Mess Hall.

"You guys are up late," Dr. Weir commented.

McKay snorted, looking up from a bowl of jelly. "Can't you sleep either?" he asked in return.

It seemed the usual snark and confidence of everyone had been drained, taking McKay's usual barbs and weakening them to beyond harmless.

"Any progress?" Teyla Emmagan asked.

Dr. Weir shook her head. "No," she answered. "He's still in a coma. At least he isn't in any pain."

"…Maybe if I went alone, maybe…" Ronon Dex spoke up.

Dr. Weir shook her head again, her expression firm yet sad. "It's not open for discussion," she told him.

Jonas looked at Ronon Dex, seeing the man leaning against the railing, his weight settled firmly against it, even with his arms crossed over his chest. "I'm not good at sittin' still," the Satedan told her.

"I doubt anyone here is, big buy," Dr. Witcker said. "I don't know the guy and I'm about to start pulling my hair out."

Dr. Weir sighed, even as Jonas caught a glimpse of Camilla passing the earthenware mug to her brother who promptly passed it to the Satedan. "Believe me, I understand," the head of the expedition said. "I appreciate how you feel." She took a breath. "Look. We've closed down that section of the Infirmary, but if you feel the need to…"

Jonas didn't need her to finish, even as she trailed off and he nodded. He understood what wasn't being spoken. "Are we really at that point?" McKay asked. "Of saying goodbye, I mean."

Dr. Weir sighed. "I think we might be."

Without his radio active, Jonas didn't hear whatever had surprised Dr. Weir or the others, but he watched as Dr. Weir spun and walked off, heading out of the Infirmary, the others behind her. Still leaning against the railing, stunned by the sudden exodus from the Mess Hall, Jonas set his drink down.

"What just happened?"

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam didn't manage to catch what Carson had been saying as Elizabeth raced ahead of the others as she climbed the stairs. She had caught up, with her brother, as Carson started to cross the walkway to Elizabeth's office.

"-ucing trace amounts of their signature pheromone," Carson said.

"And?" Elizabeth asked him

"When we were in the cave," Carson continued. "Those bugs knew we did nae belong there, so they did nae really fancy us getting close t' their nest."

Cam felt her eyes widening as she leaned against one of the walls in the office. "You've saying that if we can produce the pheromone artificially, then we might be able to get the Iratus bugs to ignore us?" she asked.

Carson nodded. "Aye," he replied. "Tha' would work."

"Well, that's an excellent plan, Carson!" Rodney said, a smile on his face.

**_There's always a hiccup with these kind of discoveries, _**Kel'an commented.

Carson nodded again. "Aye, Ah wish it was."

Ronon looked at him. "You can't do it in time," he said.

Carson shrugged. "Nae," he replied calmly. "It'd take days."

Cam sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. _Why do you have to be right? _she asked.

**_Just logic, _**Kel'an said. **_It took the Tok'ra weeks to create a substance that made Dr. Jackson blind to Anubis's sensors and those, after a fashion, were designed to sense certain pheromones and lifesigns._**

Cam saw the other's expressions falling then. "But you said Sheppard only had twenty-four hours before the damage the retrovirus was causing him would be irreparable," Elizabeth said.

Carson reluctantly nodded. "Exactly."

"Well, then that's a terrible plan Carson!" Rodney put in.

"There's only one person on this base that wouldnae need the artificial pheromone," Carson continued explaining.

It didn't take Cam a second to understand the man's mildly cryptic words and she shook her head. "Sheppard!" Elizabeth said, her tone conveying her shock.

"He could walk right in that cave and those bugs would nae pay him any mind."

"I'm not sure if you've noticed or not, but Colonel Sheppard's not feeling very well," Rodney retorted angrily.

"He stopped taking the inhibitor we were administering," Carson replied calmly, not belying the anger that was clear to Cam. "It was able to keep him lucid."

"I thought it's effectiveness had worn off," Elizabeth pointed out.

Carson shrugged. "It has," he said. "But Ah believe if we give him another massive dose, he may be clear-headed enough t' complete the mission before we lose him completely."

"Yeah, but won't giving him that much inhibitor, like…" Rodney began and stopped before he could go any further.

The Scottish doctor nodded. "Kill him? Aye, it's a definite possibility. Even if Ah knew it was for certain, Ah'd be tempted t' offer him one last hour of lucidity."

Cam nodded in understanding, even as Elizabeth nodded her own agreement. "Do it," she said before she looked at the others. "Gear up, take him as far as the cave."

A-A-A-A-A-A

Cam stood on the balcony, watching as Atlantis' flagship team left, John leading the way, Carson and Martouf taking up the rear. Danny and Jonas stood with her, even as she leaned tiredly on the balcony.

"You think they're going to be able to do it?" Danny asked.

Cam smiled weakly, nodding. "I've seen some crazy plans work because of Sheppard," she told her friends. "Some of the craziest plans I've ever known and the man pulls it off as if he did it every day." She shook her head then. "My worry is whether or not they'll be in time."

A-A-A-A-A-A

**SEVERAL WEEKS LATER**

John walked towards the gym, going over, yet again, what he wanted to say to Teyla. He respected the Athosian woman – probably more than he should – and he wanted to rebuild the bridge he'd burnt when the retrovirus had torn through him.

Walking the final corridor to the gym, he absently touched the walls of Atlantis, feeling the hum of the city beneath his fingertips, in his mind. He released his touch as he neared the doors and he watched as they slid open and he stepped into the gym, pausing as he saw Teyla holding one of her people in an intricate neck lock. Teyla's eyes were wide and John could only hope that it was because of the fact that he was out of uniform, not because of what he'd done.

"Colonel!" Teyla exclaimed before she nodded, releasing the girl in her arms.

Standing to one side of the door, John watched as she stepped in front of the girl and touched their foreheads together before the younger girl left the room, walking quickly.

"Should you be up and about?" Teyla asked as she turned to look at him.

John smiled at that, shrugging a shoulder as he walked towards the bench that held her fighting weapons and her bag. "Well, I've been cooped up in that damned Infirmary for a couple of weeks," he replied. "Give me a break."

He tried to inject a little humour into his tone and he hoped that it worked in trying to lighten the sombre mood, even as he picked up a pair of bantos rods and twirled them. It felt good to have the once familiar weight settling into his hands as he moved them slowly.

"You are looking well," Teyla commented. "Are you feeling more like yourself?"

John shrugged a shoulder, smiling slightly. "Well, according to my DNA, I'm one hundred percent John Sheppard again," he told her before he stopped moving the bantos rods and twisted his right arm so she could see the healing scar. "Although, I've got to say, I'm looking forward to getting rid of this thing one day."

The skin was still rough and slightly blue, but since his human skin had reappeared, it had been shrinking and going back to normal, slowly and gradually. John shrugged a shoulder again before he pulled his arm back.

"Doc says it'll clear up eventually," he told her before he decided to jump into what he had to say to her. "Ah, so listen. While I've been laying there the past few weeks, I've been remembering things." He saw her uncomfortable smile and he sighed. "Some things I might have done that you could call out of character."

"You mean when you attacked the security detail," she commented.

Smiling weakly, John was grateful for her sudden, practically deliberate misunderstanding, he nodded. "Yeah, that was one of them," he admitted, seeing Teyla smiling in response. "There's another thing I should probably apologise for."

Teyla shook her head then. "Give it no further thought," she told him.

Biting the bullet as he looked at her, John shook his head. "I can't do that," he told her. "Not all of it."

Teyla frowned as she looked at him, her hands clenching slightly as she watched him warily. "I do not understand," she said.

John smiled slightly, but kept his distance. He respected Teyla too much to invade her personal space like he had before, so he stayed where he was, placing the bantos rods down.

"I acted out of character," he said. "But it didn't put feelings into me that weren't already there." Teyla's frown disappeared, as did her readiness and John relaxed. "I want to give us a chance. A shot. See if we can make this work."

Teyla smiled at him and nodded slightly. "So would I," she said softly. "Nice to have you back… John."

The pilot grinned in response. "How does lunch sound?"

* * *

_"Conversion is not the smooth, easy-going process some men seem to think... It is wounding work, this breaking of the hearts, but without wounding there is no saving... Where there is grafting there will always be a cutting, the graft must be let in with a wound; to stick it onto the outside or to tie it on with a string would be of no use. Heart must be set to heart and back to back or there will be no sap from root to branch. And this, I say, must be done by a wound, by a cut." John Bunyan_

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**Response to reviews/reviewers:**

**Incognito**: Thanks for your opinion. I do understand your desire for a difference, but I couldn't help but stick mostly to plot and lines with this one. I've loved Ronon's plot in Trinity for a while now and I wanted to do it justice. I may not have done that, but I'll endeavor to make the next few chapters a bit more interesting for you.

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That's it for now, so please, drop me a review and let me know what you think. Please?


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